NASA Delays Artemis II Mission to the Moon — Here’s Why
11.01.2024 - 16:21
/ travelandleisure.com
NASA has delayed the launch schedule for its Artemis program, which will eventually land the first woman and person of color on the moon.
The postponement was ordered after issues were uncovered following testing, according to NASA. Currently, the agency is “troubleshooting a battery issue and addressing challenges with a circuitry component responsible for air ventilation and temperature control.”
The Artemis II mission, which was initially expected to launch this year, will now aim to launch in September 2025, NASA said. That mission will mark the first crewed flight of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft and will travel 1.4 million miles beyond the moon over 10 days.
The Artemis III mission will then aim to launch in September 2026 and will mark the first time a woman and a person of color land on the moon as well as the first time humans return to the moon in more than 50 years. During that mission, humans are expected to explore the region near the lunar South Pole for the first time.
“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,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “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.”
The unmanned Artemis I mission was hit by a similar postponement after it was supposed to launch in 2021, but was beset by a series of technical and weather issues. The mission finally took off in November 2022.
NASA said its Artemis IV launch, which will mark the agency’s first mission to the Gateway lunar space station, remains on track for 2028.
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