Return to the Moon: NASA announces launch date for Artemis mission
13 March 08:19
NASA plans to send astronauts around the Moon on April 1. This will be the first manned flight to lunar orbit in over 50 years.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Bloomberg.
The space agency announced the new launch date after completing a technical review of the mission’s readiness.
However, NASA noted that there are still some technical issues to be resolved before the launch.
“While I and the agency are pleased that April 1 is our first opportunity, keep in mind that we still have work to do,” said Lori Glaze, acting deputy administrator for exploration systems development at NASA.
As part of the mission, four astronauts will make a 10-day flight around the Moon. The crew will include NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover, as well as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
The crew will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. After flying around the Moon, the astronauts will return to Earth in the Orion capsule.
The mission will be a key milestone in the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon and prepare long-term lunar infrastructure.
NASA initially planned to launch in February, but postponed it due to technical checks of the rocket’s refueling system.
Engineers later discovered a problem with the helium supply to the SLS rocket, which had to be returned from the launch pad to the hangar for repairs.
NASA now plans to return the rocket to the launch pad on March 19, where it will undergo final checks before launch.
