Just one day after excitedly sharing the successful results of the second Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal, NASA has a different message this morning. A problem with helium flow to the Space Launch System’s upper stage overnight means they have to roll the SLS back to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs. NASA’s initial announcement this morning left room for the possibility that the repairs might take place at the pad, but NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman soon clarified that SLS must return to the VAB and launching in March no longer is an option.

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NASA confirmed today that March 6 is their target for sending astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The date for launching Artemis II is tentative pending a review of data from yesterday’s successful Wet Dress Rehearsal and weather, but that is the plan. The four astronauts are entering the 14-day pre-launch quarantine this afternoon.

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Today’s successful Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) positions NASA to launch astronauts around the Moon  for the first time in over 50 years as soon as next month. This was the second WDR of the Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis II mission after hydrogen leaks prematurely ended an attempt earlier this month. NASA will hold a press conference tomorrow to share the results and perhaps confirm a date for when four astronauts will venture beyond Earth orbit for the first time since 1972.

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At a quickly announced news conference today, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman released NASA’s investigation into the 2024 Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test incident. Acknowledging that the Starliner spacecraft itself has deficiencies, Isaacman found the “most troubling” failures were in NASA decision-making and leadership, with mistakes from the program’s inception through execution. That includes not declaring CFT a Type-A Mishap from the beginning. Leadership changes at NASA will be made as the agency and Boeing continue to work together to make Starliner a success.

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NASA will conduct a second Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) on Thursday in preparation for the launch of Artemis II. The nearly 50-hour test actually begins Tuesday evening as launch teams conduct tests and fill the Space Launch System rocket with propellant. The simulated launch window opens at 8:30 pm ET on Thursday. The first Artemis II WDR on February 2 ended early because of hydrogen leaks, but NASA has replaced seals and is ready to try again.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 15-21, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess except for pro forma sessions.

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Crew-12 headed to the International Space Station this morning aboard their SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom. When they arrive tomorrow, the ISS will be restored to its normal crew complement of seven. The unexpected early return of Crew-11 in January meant that only one NASA astronaut is aboard the ISS right now with two Russian colleagues. Freedom is delivering two NASA astronauts, one Russian, and one from the European Space Agency who will spend eight months conducting scientific research and maintaining the earth-orbiting laboratory that has been permanently occupied by international crews for more than 25 years.

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United Launch Alliance’s (ULA’s) new Vulcan rocket delivered U.S. Space Force satellites to geosynchronous orbit today despite a “significant performance anomaly” on one of the Solid Rocket Boosters. This was only the fourth launch of Vulcan and the second time an SRB malfunctioned. In both cases Vulcan’s core stage compensated for the underperformance and put the payloads where they needed to go. ULA and its partners are investigating what happened.

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Just 12 months after convincing President Trump to use his inaugural address to extol the vision of sending people to Mars, Elon Musk is changing course. Mars is still the long-term goal, but Musk now acknowledges that is years away. His near-term ambition is a “self-growing city” on the Moon, a planetary object he earlier eschewed as a distraction, that would be home to a manufacturing base for AI satellites and a mass driver to send them into deep space.  [Updated, February 11, 2026.]

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of February 8-14, 2026 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

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