NASA’s Artemis program, aimed at returning astronauts to the moon this decade, is facing new delays. The agency announced Thursday that a mission to land on the moon in 2026 will now take place no earlier than mid-2027.
The delay is linked to issues with the Orion crew capsule’s heat shield, which became charred and eroded during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022. Testing revealed the root cause of the issue: how the spacecraft reenters Earth’s atmosphere upon returning from deep space.
To address this problem, NASA plans to fly a modified trajectory for its next mission, Artemis II, which will include reducing the time Orion spends “skipping” across the atmosphere. The agency had previously set 2024 and 2028 as target landing dates for crewed missions, but these have been pushed back.
The delay comes amid concerns about losing US dominance in space, with China planning to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized the importance of landing on the moon’s south pole, where valuable stores of water ice are believed to be present, to avoid ceding territory to China.
NASA is also preparing for a new administration, with billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman set to take over as administrator and has expressed concerns about certain elements of the Artemis program.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/05/science/nasa-artemis-moon-mission-landing-delays/index.html