Conspiracy theories have been reignited online after NASA announced its historic moon mission has been delayed yet again.
This morning, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the Artemis II mission will be pushed back to March after the wet dress rehearsal failed at the last minute.
While Mr Isaacman says this is a sign that safety testing is working according to plan, this is far from the first delay to NASA’s lunar ambition.
Artemis II was originally planned for mid–2025, while Artemis III was supposed to land American astronauts on the moon by the end of this year.
And after last year’s uncrewed Artemis I lunar flyby raised critical safety issues, the entire programme was pushed back by a year.
The latest delay has whipped internet–dwelling conspiracy theorists into a frenzy.
On X, one commenter vented: ‘Lmao always a delay. This ain’t happening.’
Another added: ‘I told you guys they would find a reason to cancel their fake trip to the moon’.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced that the Artemis II mission (pictured) will be pushed back to March after the wet dress rehearsal failed at the last minute.
On social media, news of the delay reignited conspiracy theories as sceptical commenters rushed to share their thoughts
While NASA insists the delay is for safety reasons, internet–dwelling conspiracy theorists have jumped to their own conclusions about the ‘real’ reasons
After NASA announced that Artemis II would not fly until March at the very earliest, critics flocked to social media to share their outrage.
Many expressed intense disappointment that Artemis II was being delayed, with some unsure that it would ever be able to launch.
On X, one commenter wrote: ‘I have almost zero confidence in this program.’
Another ranted: ‘Another hydrogen leak classic NASA move march who even surprised anymore.’
And one added: ‘Expecting a delay, as usual. This is what @NASA does. By the time they’ll land on the moon, there’ll be a Chinese flag already on there.’
Some commenters went even further, with the delay seemingly providing evidence for their wild beliefs in the moon landing conspiracy.
‘Honestly for the American people to believe we lost the ‘technology’ to go back to the moon is the biggest conspiracy ever,’ one social media user vented.
Another chipped in: ‘Dude SpaceX launches 20 rockets a year and y’all launch 1 every 3 years? Pathetic. Liars. We never went to the moon.’
This is not the first time that NASA’s moon mission has faced delays. The entire program was shifted back by a year after serious safety concerns arose
For some conspiracy theorists, NASA’s cautious delay was clear evidence that the moon landings were faked all along
One commenter said the idea that America would find it hard to go to the moon after the Apollo missions was ‘the biggest conspiracy ever’
One X user complained: ‘So was the green screen and wire harnesses not working or what? I doubt it takes a month to fix something stage techs can fix in a couple of hours max. Or is it the hair spray?’
Another simply wrote: ‘Better call Kubrick’ – alluding to the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Stanley Kubrick and a group of Jewish ‘Hollywood elites’ directed the fake moon landing footage.
Interestingly, while conspiracy theorists doubt that the Apollo moon landings occurred, some seemed genuinely excited for America to land on the moon ‘for the first time’.
One confused commenter wrote on X: ‘Yeah figured there would be issues as we have never been to the moon before.
‘I pray for the safety of everyone involved in this truly historic endeavour. Thank you for keeping us constantly informed. Looking forward to this launch.’
Despite conspiracy theorists’ wild reactions, the real reason for the most recent Artemis II delay is far simpler.
NASA had originally been targeting a launch window between February 6 and February 11.
Before launch, the space agency has to first carry out a ‘wet dress rehearsal’ in which the crew fill the rocket with super–cooled fuel, runs through a practice countdown, and then safely drains the fuel tanks.
One confused commenter suggested that the Apollo moon landings were fake, but said that they were excited to see the ‘truly historic’ Artemis mission
However, after starting the rehearsal at 01:13 GMT (20:13 EST) on January 31, several issues quickly became apparent.
Almost immediately, NASA noticed a liquid hydrogen leak in an interface used to transfer propellant into the rocket’s core.
Fixing this required allowing the rocket to warm up, reseating the seals and adjusting the propellant flow.
Jared Isaacman wrote in a post on X: ‘All core stage and interim cryogenic propulsion stage tanks were successfully filled, and teams conducted a terminal countdown to about T–5 minutes before the ground launch sequencer halted operations due to an increased leak rate.’
NASA says that it will now need to review the data from this failed rehearsal and conduct another test ahead of the March launch window.
The Space Launch Systems rocket is NASA’s largest and most complex, requiring over two million litres of supercooled liquid hydrogen fuel, chilled to –252°C (–423°F).
However, this is only the third time that this rocket has ever been flown, which makes technical issues likely.
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is also experiencing unusually cold weather, which interferes with rocket systems and the interfaces that prevent fuel from leaking.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (pictured) says that the Artemis II launch will be rescheduled for launch, adding that the mission will only take place ‘when we believe we are as ready’
Artemis II has already faced over a year of delays, after the unexpected damage to the Orion heatshield used in the uncrewed Artemis I mission (pictured) took extra time to investigate
Likewise, NASA’s appetite for risk is significantly lower than it was in the Apollo era, which means the mission has more complex fail–safe systems to test.
Mr Isaacman writes: ‘As always, safety remains our top priority, for our astronauts, our workforce, our systems, and the public. As noted above, we will only launch when we believe we are as ready to undertake this historic mission.’
The entire lunar program has faced several major delays that have pushed back the launches by years.
The Artemis mission to return to the moon was established during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
After multiple technical failures pushed back the mission, the uncrewed Artemis I mission finally launched in November 2022.
Upon returning to Earth, NASA discovered that the heatshield, which would protect the crew from the heat of re–entry, had been badly damaged.
Alongside a battery issue and failures in the circuits that control air circulation and temperature control, this required additional time to fix.
This resulted in the entire Artemis timeline being pushed back, with Artemis III expected to follow in mid–2027 and Artemis IV in 2028.
