Jan 10, 2024 11:40:00

NASA postpones the manned moon landing of the lunar exploration mission 'Artemis program' by one year to September 2026, the reason is 'for safety reasons'

It has been announced that the manned moon landing of NASA's lunar landing project ``

Artemis Project '' will be delayed by one year from the original schedule and will be carried out in 2026. NASA explains that the manned moon landing was postponed for 'safety reasons.'

NASA Shares Progress Toward Early Artemis Moon Missions with Crew - NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-shares-progress-toward-early-artemis-moon-missions-with-crew/

Astronauts won't walk on the moon until 2026 after NASA delays next 2 Artemis missions | Space
https://www.space.com/nasa-artemis-2-moon-mission-delay-september-2025

Citing “crew safety,” NASA delays upcoming Artemis missions by about a year | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/01/citing-crew-safety-nasa-delays-upcoming-artemis-missions-by-about-a-year/

NASA Is Delaying Artemis Moon Missions By A Year — Here's The Main Safety Reason
https://www.inverse.com/science/nasas-artemis-i-ii-moon-missions-delayed

On Tuesday, January 9, 2024 local time, NASA shared progress information on the Artemis project, which aims to land the first woman and person of color on the moon.

In order to address challenges related to the development, operations, and integration of the Artemis program, NASA has rescheduled Artemis 2, the first crewed test flight of the Artemis program, to take place in space from near the South Pole in September 2025. It has been announced that the launch of Artemis III, the mission to land humans on the moon, has been rescheduled to September 2026. The first mission at the lunar orbiting manned base Gateway, Artemis IV (Artemis IV), is scheduled to take place in September 2028 as planned.

Regarding the postponement of the Artemis program mission, NASA said, ``Ensuring the safety of the crew is the main reason for the schedule change for Artemis 2.As the first flight test of the Artemis program with a crew aboard the spacecraft

Orion , Artemis 2 will test the environmental control and life support systems needed to support astronauts.NASA tests have revealed that it will take additional time to resolve. The team is troubleshooting battery issues and is addressing challenges with circuit components responsible for ventilation and temperature control. '' and explained that the reason for the rescheduling was ``to ensure the safety of the crew.''

Artemis 2 is a mission to conduct a manned flight test using Orion, the spacecraft used to land on the moon.

The postponement of Artemis 3 follows the rescheduling of Artemis 2. NASA explains, ``This is to ensure that the lessons learned from Artemis 2 are reflected in the next mission (Artemis 3).'' The new adjusted schedule will give SpaceX and Axiom Space, the third-party space companies that provide spacecraft and rockets for the Artemis program, more time to make improvements.

NASA is also investigating the unexpected disappearance of coal seam debris from the shield that protects the spacecraft from heat during Artemis 1 , the first mission of the Artemis program. We plan to draw conclusions regarding this. In addition, NASA's research team is conducting extensive sampling, testing, and data review using sensors and images of the heat shield, and emphasizes that it is taking a systematic approach to understanding the problem. Masu.

The details of Artemis 1 are summarized in the following article.

NASA's lunar exploration mission ``Artemis Project'' successfully conducts lunar orbit flight test of spacecraft ``Orion'' - GIGAZINE

Additionally, NASA has asked SpaceX and Blue Origin, as part of their existing contracts, to begin applying the knowledge gained from system development to variations that may carry large cargo on future missions. I did.

Regarding the new mission schedule, NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Free said, ``The new schedule is realistic enough.''