![\"A](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/ksc-20230522-ph-ams01-0011-large.jpg?c=original&q=w_1280,c_fill\/f_avif\")
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\n Throughout the Artemis II crew\u2019s 10-day flight, their Orion capsule has been supported by a cylindrical attachment at its base, called the service module. This component is equipped with the life support supplies, solar power and engines that are used to sustain and power this mission before being jettisoned just ahead of the mission\u2019s reenters Earth.\n <\/p>\n
\n Called the European Service Module, it was purpose made by the United States\u2019 European partners to boost the NASA-built Orion capsule on its moon-bound journey.\n <\/p>\n
\n But this test flight is highlighting some flaws.\n <\/p>\n
\n During a Thursday news conference, mission controllers revealed that there\u2019s a leak in the propulsion system, which affects the pressurization of tanks that hold oxidizer \u2014 a propellant used to power the module\u2019s engines.\n <\/p>\n
\n NASA actually knew this might be a problem before flight. But the issue appears to have gotten worse when the service module fired its main engine for the translunar injection burn on Day 2 of this mission, according to Amit Kshatriya, NASA\u2019s associate administrator.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure that that\u2019s related,\u201d Kshatriya said. \u201cIt just so happens that that\u2019s when we saw the leak increase.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n He added that NASA accepted this risk before flight because \u201cthe leak was small enough \u2014 and we knew we had plenty of pressurization volume\u201d to get this mission done.\n <\/p>\n
\n The issue hasn\u2019t directly affected the flight, as Orion has been able to stay on course and complete engine burns to keep its trajectory on a precision path.\n <\/p>\n
\n In a statement, NASA also said that there \u201care multiple layers of redundancy,\u201d meaning there are backup measures that keep the leak from being a major concern.\n <\/p>\n
\n But this will be an issue down the line, Kshatriya said.\n <\/p>\n
\n It will likely require an \u201cextensive redesign\u201d of the valve system that\u2019s causing the issue, he noted, because the leak grew by \u201can order of magnitude\u201d in flight versus what was expected.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Throughout the Artemis II crew\u2019s 10-day flight, their Orion capsule has been supported by a cylindrical attachment at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[85,46,141,145],"class_list":["post-385529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}