NASA postpones moon missions: Artemis II postponed to April 2026, Artemis III to mid-2027. View details here | Mint

NASA postpones moon missions: The United States' national space agency, NASA, said on December 5 that it is officially postponing its Artemis Moon mission programs.

According to the details, NASA said the program suffered a setback, pushing back the Artemis II crewed test flight to April 2026 (from September 2025) and the Artemis III mission to mid-2027.

“The experts discussed the results of NASA's investigation of the Orion spacecraft's heat shield after it experienced unexpected loss of char during the return of the Artemis I test flight,” NASA said on its official website.

'Most daring international undertaking that humanity has attempted…'

NASA said engineers will continue to work on preparing the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II crewed test flight. It added that the heat shield is already attached to the capsule and the new target date for launch is April 2026. Furthermore, Artemis III has been postponed until mid-2027.

The space agency added that the updated timeline reflects the time needed to address the Orion environmental control and life support systems.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson called the Artemis campaign “the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international undertaking ever undertaken by humanity,” adding that significant progress has been made over the past four years and that he is “proud” of the coming years. step forward in space exploration.

“I am proud of the work our teams have done to prepare for this next step forward in exploration as we look to learn more about Orion's life support systems to support crew operations during Artemis II. We have to get this next test flight right. That is how the Artemis campaign succeeds,” he added.

Why the delay?

According to a report from ANI, citing information released by NASA, an extensive investigation into the issue of the Artemis I heat shield has shown that this (heat shield) could keep the crew safe during the Artemis II mission with changes in Orion's trajectory as it enters Earth's atmosphere. . Furthermore, it was found that the returning capsule slows from almost 40,000 km/h to about 525 km/h before deploying the parachutes for a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean.

The Lockheed Martin-manufactured Orion crew capsule experienced problems with its heat shield cracking and partially eroding during its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere during its 2022 debut, the unmanned 25-day journey around the moon, Artemis I.

“Throughout our process of investigating the heat shield phenomenon and determining a path forward, we have remained true to NASA's core values; safety and data-driven analysis remained paramount. The updates to our mission plans are a positive step to ensure we can safely achieve our objectives on the Moon and develop the technologies and capabilities needed for crewed Mars missions,” said Catherine Koerner, associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The slowdown could also be attributed to possible policy changes expected next year under the administration of newly elected President Donald Trump, the Reuters report showed. The Artemis program, created by NASA during Trump's first administration, is estimated to cost $93 billion through 2025.

Notably, on December 4, Trump selected billionaire businessman Jared Isaacman, an associate of SpaceX founder Elon Musk, as the next NASA chief. Nelson said he congratulated Isaacman and expects the Trump administration will further assist Artemis with its current plan.

About Artemis II (crewed mission) and Artemis III (landing mission)

According to Reuters, Artemis II would mark the first time astronauts have returned to the moon since 1972 with the Apollo moon mission. Unlike the Apollo missions, however, the Artemis program also calls for building lunar bases that will help pave the way for the more ambitious future goal of sending astronauts to Mars.

Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander, will join NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on the 10-day Artemis II test flight around the moon and back as part of the mission.

According to NASA, the flight will provide valuable data to the Orion spacecraft systems needed to support the crew on their journey to deep space and return them safely home. This includes cabin air revitalization, manual flight capabilities, and how humans interact with other hardware and software in the spacecraft.

While Artemis II would involve astronauts orbiting the moon and back, Artemis III aims to land astronauts on the moon using SpaceX's Starship aircraft, Reuters reported. In the Artemis III moon landing mission, Orion will take the astronauts to space on Starship, which will land them on the surface.

(With inputs from ANI and Reuters)