NASA postpones moon missions of Artemis astronaut

For NASA and its astronauts, the moon is no further away in distance, but is sliding further and further into the future.

Space agency officials announced Tuesday that Artemis II, the first U.S. mission to send astronauts close to the moon in more than 50 years, will not take place at the end of this year as planned.

They set a September 2025 date for the mission, which will take astronauts around the moon without landing there.

That mission’s crew will include three NASA astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch – and a Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen.

The delay in Artemis II also pushes back the next mission, Artemis III, which will take two astronauts to the moon’s surface near the south pole. That will now not be until September 2026.

This is a developing story and will be updated.