NASA
has announced that it is delaying the
Artemis II mission
that will take humans around the Moon from its original schedule of late-2024 to September 2025. The US space agency added that the
Artemis III mission
, which was originally planned to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole in 2025, is postponed to September 2026.
It, however, said the Artemis IV mission to take humans to the lunar Gateway space station in 2028 is on track.
Why mission is pushed back
According to NASA,
crew safety
is the primary driver for the Artemis II schedule changes. Some issues were uncovered with the Lockheed Martin-built Orion crew capsule's batteries during vibration tests, and the batteries need to be replaced, news agency Reuters cited two people as saying.
“We are returning to the Moon in a way we never have before, and the safety of our astronauts is NASA’s top priority as we prepare for future Artemis missions,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
The mission will test critical environmental control and life support systems required to support astronauts. NASA said that teams are working to fix a battery issue and a circuitry component which is responsible for air ventilation and temperature control.
Heat shield probe to conclude this year
The US space agency said that its probe into the loss of char layer pieces from the spacecraft’s heat shield during Artemis I is expected to conclude this spring. It added that the new timeline for Artemis III aligns with the updated schedule for Artemis II mission, which is also expected to provide more insights and challenges for future.
“We are letting the hardware talk to us so that crew safety drives our decision-making. We will use the Artemis II flight test, and each flight that follows, to reduce risk for future Moon missions,” added Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
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