NASA once again delays astronaut moon landing, pushing to 2027

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNN

NASA once again delays astronaut moon landing, pushing to 2027

By Jackie Wattles and Kristin Fisher, CNN * 3 minute read
Updated 1:44 PM EST, Thu December 5, 2024


NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft on top is pictured at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 26, 2022, ahead of the Artemis I launch. Eric Bordelon/NASA

(CNN) — NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon this decade amid a renewed international push for lunar exploration, is facing more delays. The agency said Thursday that a planned mission to land on the moon in 2026 will now take place no earlier than mid-2027.

Additionally, a pathfinder mission that was slated to fly astronauts around the moon in September 2025 will now take place no earlier than April 2026.

That delay is linked in part to issues with the Orion crew capsule that will be home to the astronauts during both lunar missions. NASA previously disclosed that the spacecraft’s heat shield, which keeps Orion from burning up as the vehicle reenters the Earth’s atmosphere, became charred and eroded in an unexpected way during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022.

The space agency has “done extensive testing to understand the risk that our astronauts will have while accomplishing the goals of landing back on the moon,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Thursday, adding that that testing was able to identify the root cause of the heat shield issues.

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Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/05/science/nasa-artemis-moon-mission-landing-delays/index.html

[FredGarvin]

1. If only NASA had a re-set button

Back to the 1960's.

Back when scientists and engineers powered our country

[hueymahl]

2. There are plenty of engineers and scientists working on this

Most of them are in the private sector. And apparently those left are not able to get the job done for whatever reason.

[relayerbob]

3. They were willing to accept far higher risks

And had severely limited understanding of the dangers that they faced. Times have changed, as has society. Apollo 13 would be a huge scandal now, not just a road bump before the next mission.

[electric_blue68]

4. Disappointed, but I want the missions to be As Safe As Possible.

[OverBurn]

5. Darn it, I was hoping we'd get to the moon in my lifetime. I kid.......

[Polybius]

6. SpaceX will jump on this

I bet they will be the next on the moon.

[Earl_from_PA]

7. Tremendous waste of money.

Chest pumping pride. That is all that can be gleaned from doing this. The money is much better spent elsewhere.

[hunter]

8. It's my personal opinion that manned space flight is pointless...

... and that natural born humans will never have a significant presence in outer space.

If our civilization survives a little while longer then a few more humans might land on the moon and that will be that, for centuries at least.

Star Trek is fantasy. There's no such thing as warp drives in this universe. And outer space is a very very hostile environment for beings made of meat.

We ought to be spending that money on sophisticated robotic space exploration.

My wife disagrees, and our children have friends who are engineers on the Artemis project. They've got the tee-shirts. My grandfather was an engineer for the Apollo Project.

[Crowman2009]

9. Yeah, I think robots and probes are our best options.

The only major project that would be viable for the moon be a large telescope that wouldn't be hindered by atmospheric conditions and radio waves.