Nasa delays Artemis II Moon mission - aiming for launch in March

Nasa has announced that the launch date of Artemis II will not take place this month.

The mission will see four astronauts take part in a 10-day fly around the Moon and back again.

It comes after a dress rehearsal - known as a wet rehearsal - for the rocket launch was stopped early by the US space agency.

It halted the countdown a little over five minutes before the end of the rehearsal because of a hydrogen leak at the launch pad.

As a result, Nasa has now said that the earliest possible date for the Artemis II launch will be March.

It's been 50 years since any country last sent astronauts to the Moon, and the mission is part of Nasa's long-term plan to eventually have astronauts live on the Moon.

The US space agency had aimed to carry out the real launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in the US state of Florida, as soon as 8 February.

However, during the 'wet' rehearsal of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket launch, they discovered a fault.

Nasa halted the countdown because a hydrogen leak was detected at the launch pad, during the test.

They also encountered audio communication issues and found that the cold weather was having an effect on some of their cameras.

Speaking on social media Nasa boss, Jared Isaacman, explained: "These tests are designed to surface issues before flight and set up launch day with the highest probability of success.

"We will only launch when we believe we are as ready to undertake this historic mission," he added.

"Getting this mission right means returning to the Moon to stay and a future to Artemis 100 and beyond."

Nasa are due to give more details in the coming days, however they have said that the earliest that Artemis II will now launch will be next month.