NASA announces changes to its plans for landing on the Moon: what is known
28 February 11:18
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a revision to the Artemis program schedule: the agency is introducing an additional phase of testing in Earth orbit, and the landing of astronauts on the Moon is being postponed until 2028.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to a BBC publication.
New stage before the flight to the Moon
In the updated plan, the Artemis 3 mission, previously considered a landing expedition, will focus in 2027 on testing the docking of the Orion spacecraft with the lunar module in Earth orbit.
According to Isaacman, this will reduce the risks for the crew and maintain the regularity of launches without long pauses in the program’s implementation.
According to the new roadmap, the first human landing on the moon in half a century is expected no earlier than 2028 as part of the Artemis 4 or Artemis 5 missions.
The additional flight will provide an opportunity to test rendezvous systems and test new spacesuits in open space before they are used on the Moon.
The agency’s head noted that testing technologies near Earth is safer than attempting an immediate landing after a break in SLS rocket operations.
Delays and competition
The adjustment of the timing is related, in particular, to the delay in the development of SpaceX’s Starship, which is to deliver the landing module.
NASA is also working with Blue Origin, hoping to speed up work on an alternative project.
Preparations for the Artemis 2 mission to fly around the Moon have been complicated by a helium leak: the launch has been postponed until April, and the rocket has been returned to the assembly shop for repairs.
