NASA has announced that it will delay its next few Artemis missions due to technical hurdles.
NASA in a statement has the Artemis 2 mission, which will fly astronauts around the Moon and back without landing, has been postponed from November 2024 to September 2025.
Besides, the space agency also said Artemis 3, which is planned to land the first humans near the lunar south pole, has been postponed from late 2025 to September 2026.
However, the agency has said the ambitious Artemis 4 mission to the Gateway lunar space station still remains on track for 2028.
The NASA statement quoted by IE in its report said: “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.”
“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,” NASA has said.
NASA’s Artemis 2 mission:
NASA has said its Artemis 2 will be the first flight test with crew on the Orion spacecraft.
The mission will investigate about environmental control and life support systems that are crucial when it comes to keeping astronauts alive, NASA said.
NASA said its teams are troubleshooting a battery issue and addressing other issues with a component that is responsible for ventilation and temperature control.
The new timeline also ensures that scientists and engineers have enough time to learn from Artemis 2 to improve Artemis 3.
