NASA says moon missions have been postponed until 2026 and 2027
NASA is once again postponing its Artemis missions to the moon. The American Space Agency announced on Friday, it is now targeting an April 2026 launch for its Artemis II mission and mid-2027 for Artemis III. This marks another shift in the mission schedule due to technical and logistical challenges.
The latest delay stems from issues with the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft, which experienced an unexpected loss of char during the return of the Artemis I loose-propeller test flight in December 2022. After an independent review and extensive analysis, NASA has Avcoat heat shield material did not allow gases to escape sufficiently, causing cracks and material loss.
While NASA determined that astronauts would have been safe aboard Artemis I, the agency emphasized the need to eliminate potential risks to ensure the mission’s success.
“The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international undertaking ever undertaken by humanity,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “We have to get this next test flight right. This is how the Artemis campaign succeeds.’
At the same time, NASA said it will continue to prepare its Space Launch System rocket and stack the elements — a process that began in November — to ensure compatibility with the Orion spacecraft for Artemis II.
The Artemis II mission will be a ten-day crewed test flight around the moon and back, collecting crucial data on the performance of the Orion spacecraft. This includes monitoring the air revitalization system, testing manual flight capabilities and evaluating how the crew interacts with onboard hardware and software – crucial steps in preparing NASA for the Artemis III mission.
That mission will land astronauts, including the first woman and the first person of color, on the moon’s south pole. No humans have landed on the moon since NASA’s Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
