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Amazon says its pricey Lord of the Rings prequel series was watched by more than 25 million viewers around the world on its first day, a record debut for a Prime Video series.

The company released the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which was filmed in New Zealand, on its streaming service in more than 240 countries and territories on Friday.

Amazon did not say whether the viewers it counted had watched all or part of the first and second episodes.

Future Rings of Power instalments will be launched weekly until the October 14 season finale.

The series takes place in JRR Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth at a time known as the Second Age, a period 4000 years before the events in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit novels and films.

Amazon plans to let the full story unfold in 50 hours over five seasons.

The online retailer spent more than $US465 million ($A683 million) producing the show's first season, making it among the most expensive TV series ever produced and the most ambitious since Amazon jumped into original programming in 2013.

The company has received acclaim for shows such as Transparent and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, but viewership for those series has not been disclosed.

© RAW 2022

NASA has aborted another attempt to launch its giant, next-generation rocketship, citing a stubborn fuel leak which could delay the debut mission of its moon-to-Mars Artemis program by several weeks.

Pre-flight operations were called off about three hours before the scheduled liftoff time targeted for the 32-storey-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday.

The uncrewed test flight, aimed at launching the capsule out to the moon and back, was to have marked the inaugural voyage of both the SLS and Orion a half century after the last lunar mission of Apollo, forerunner of the Artemis program.

The countdown was scrubbed after Kennedy Space Center technicians made several failed attempts to fix a "large" leak of supercooled liquid hydrogen propellant being pumped into the rocket's core-stage fuel tanks, agency officials said.

The initial launch try on Monday was likewise foiled by technical problems, including a different leaky fuel line, a faulty temperature sensor and cracks found in insulation foam.

Mission managers proceeded with a second launch attempt on Saturday once the earlier issues had been resolved to their satisfaction. NASA had reserved another backup launch time, for either Monday or Tuesday, in case a third try was needed.

But after a review of data from the latest difficulties, NASA concluded the hydrogen leak was too tricky and time-consuming to finish troubleshooting and fix on the launch pad before the current launch period allotted to the mission expires on Tuesday.

The delay means the earliest opportunity to try flying the rocket again would come during the next launch period that runs September 19-30, or during a subsequent October window.

NASA chief Bill Nelson said earlier in the day that a rollback would postpone the next launch attempt at least until mid-October, in part to avoid a scheduling conflict with the next International Space Station crew due for launch early that month.

Launch-day delays and technical snags are not uncommon in the space business, especially for new rockets such as NASA's Space Launch System. On average, the odds of scrubbing a launch on any given day for any reason, including foul weather, are about one-in-three.

"This is part of our space program - be ready for scrubs," Nelson said on NASA TV.

The last-minute setbacks on the launch pad come at the tail end of a development program more than a decade in the making, with years of delays and billions of dollars in cost overruns under NASA's respective SLS and Orion contracts with Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp.

Apart from its technical challenges, Artemis I signals a major turning point for NASA's post-Apollo human spaceflight program, after decades focused on low-Earth orbit with space shuttles and the International Space Station.

Named for the goddess who was Apollo's twin sister in ancient Greek mythology, Artemis aims to return astronauts to the moon's surface as early as 2025, though many experts believe that time frame will likely slip.

Twelve astronauts walked on the moon during six Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972, the only spaceflights yet to place humans on the lunar surface.

© AP 2022

Brisbane stunning collapse from top four to out of the NRL finals is complete after a 22-12 loss to St George Illawarra effectively ended their season and handed Canberra eighth spot.

With everything to play for at Kogarah, the Broncos barely put themselves in the contest before Ben Hunt and Mat Feagai performed the last rites on a horror end to 2022 for Brisbane.

Canberra had entered the weekend believing they would need to beat Wests Tigers on Sunday to wrap up their top-eight spot.

But with Brisbane's collapse, the Raiders will now face Melbourne in an elimination final next Saturday unless they somehow lose by 54 points to the last-placed Tigers.

The result also means Broncos will become the first team since Canberra in 1999 to miss the finals with a winning record

Brisbane only have themselves to blame.

They sat in the top four as recently as round 19, but have since won just one of six games and conceded an average of 35 points per match.

In turn, they are now the only team since to fall from the top four so late in the season to out of the finals since the NRL introduced a top-eight system in 1995.

"That's been the last five weeks, one setback after another," dejected Brisbane coach Kevin Walters said.

"We just couldn't get off the canvas.

"We lacked the effort and discipline in the last five weeks that's required.

"We had that effort and discipline for the first 20 weeks. And then we just let it go."

It was a bunch of former Broncos who sealed the longest finals drought in the club's history.

Of the six ex-Brisbane players in the Dragons side, Jack Bird scored the game's first try before Hunt starred.

In another reminder of why his contract extension beyond 2023 is so crucial, the halfback kicked a 40-20 in the lead up to one first-half try and skipped free to put Cody Ramsey over for another.

He also pulled off a crucial last-ditch tackle on Zac Hosking with 13 minutes to play to keep a 16-12 lead intact, before putting Feagai into the clear from 50 metres as he bumped off seven defenders to put the match beyond doubt.

No player has won the Dally M outright without making the finals since Danny Buderus in 2004, but Hunt led when votes went behind closed doors and is every chance to take it out.

But coach Anthony Griffin said it would be more than justified.

"There's nowhere to hide in the NRL and he's been outstanding," Griffin said.

"He's been outstanding individually, he's been outstanding as a leader for our club."

In comparison to Hunt's brilliance, Brisbane's attack was poor throughout as they coughed up the ball on three first-half attacking raids and then struggled to show any bite in the second half.

Te Maire Martin showed moments of danger at the back before copping a knock, while Pat Carrigan ran 181 metres on return from suspension.

And even after Billy Walters also managed to get the game back to 16-12 with 20 minutes to play, there was never enough spark to threaten a late Broncos miracle.

© AAP 2022