This is a step backwards for humans and a giant leap forward for NASA.
The space agency has announced that the long-awaited return to the lunar surface will be delayed by a year due to technical challenges that could put crew members at risk.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Tuesday that “we are adjusting our schedules to target Artemis II, which will send humans to the moon's south pole for the first time, in September 2025, and Artemis III in September 2026.”
The Artemis II mission will launch a crew of four astronauts into lunar orbit for 10 days. It was scheduled to launch in November.
Artemis III, which was expected to be the first U.S. space boot to fly above Earth's surface since 1972, was originally scheduled to take off in 2025.
But as NASA's budget has ballooned to more than $42 billion since the moon landing program was revived in 2012, significant hurdles remain in completing the various vehicles and equipment needed for the Artemis mission. There is.
Quoted by NASA A number of “undiscovered issues that will require additional time to resolve” have been cited as reasons for the Artemis II delay, including “battery issues” and “issues with circuit components for ventilation and temperature control.” There is.
The agency is still investigating the “unexpected disappearance of coal seam debris from the spacecraft's heat shield during Artemis.” The unmanned mission will send a 5.75 million pound rocket through a six-week test flight around the moon before returning home in December 2022.
NASA says the study is expected to be completed by spring.
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is being touted as a gigantic next-generation spacecraft, the most powerful and complex of its kind in the world.
Some of the big names involved in the project include Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Elon Musk's SpaceX, and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. Axiom Space and RTX's Collins Aerospace are also developing lunar spacesuits to support the program. CNBC reported.
Artemis III involves a higher level of complexity, integrating a series of spacecraft built and flown by SLS-Orion and SpaceX.
These include SpaceX's own large Starship launcher and lunar lander (still under development), as well as several components that remain to be built, such as an orbital fuel storage and the space tanker that will fill it. .
Even a new moon-walking spacesuit hasn't been designed yet, despite NASA signing a contract for 2022.
The space agency's inspector general said the Artemis II and III missions are expected to cost $4.2 billion per launch.
There is one bright spot. The launch of Artemis IV, the second moon landing, is on track for 2028, the agency told The Post on Wednesday, but declined to comment on the delay.
“We will have an Artemis mission that goes far beyond Artemis IV,” a NASA spokesperson said.
