The excitement was palpable. After more than fifty years, humanity was set to return back to the Moon with Artemis missions. But now, it seems like we will have to wait longer. NASA announced Wednesday that it will delay its next few Artemis missions due to technical hurdles.
“To safely carry out these missions, agency leaders are adjusting the schedules for Artemis II and Artemis III to allow teams to work through challenges associated with first-time developments, operations, and integration,” said a press statement from the American space agency.
The Artemis 2 mission, which will fly astronauts around the Moon and back without landing, has been postponed from November 2024 to September 2025. Artemis 3, which is planned to land the first humans near the lunar south pole, has been postponed from late 2025 to September 2026. The ambitious Artemis 4 mission to the Gateway lunar space station still remains on track for 2028, according to the agency.
“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 We’ve learned a lot since Artemis I, and the success of these early missions relies on our commercial and international partnerships to further our reach and understanding of humanity’s place in our solar system. Artemis represents what we can accomplish as a nation – and as a global coalition. When we set our sights on what is hard, together, we can achieve what is great,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a press statement.
Artemis 2 will be the first flight test with crew on the Orion spacecraft and it will test environmental control and life support systems that are crucial when it comes to keeping astronauts alive. NASA teams are troubleshooting a battery issue and addressing other issues with a component that is responsible for ventilation and temperature control.
There was also an unexpected loss of char layer pieces from Orion’s heat shield during the Artemis 1 issue and the investigation into that is expected to conclude in spring this year. The new timeline also ensures that scientists and engineers have enough time to learn from Artemis 2 to improve Artemis 3.
Credit: Indianexpress.com
