NASA expected to announce “months of delay” for Artemis manned lunar mission

(CNN) — NASA leadership is expected to announce on Tuesday a “months-long delay” to the first crewed mission of the agency’s flagship Artemis program, according to a current and former NASA employee.

The delay affects NASA’s Artemis II mission, which aims to send four astronauts on a trip to the Moon and whose takeoff was scheduled for this November.

However, according to sources, the mission is now not expected to take place before 2025, confirming months of speculation that a postponement is imminent.

In a November report, NASA’s inspector general hinted at possible mission delays, citing three key issues the space agency must resolve before it can safely land humans on the Moon.

First, the ground structure used to build, transport and launch the program’s giant Space Launch System rocket — called Mobile Launcher 1 — “suffered more damage than expected.”

The November report said repairs to the structure were ongoing.

Second, the heat shield of the Orion spacecraft – which was supposed to house the astronauts on Artemis II – was “unexpectedly destroyed” during Artemis I when it was exposed to temperatures nearly half as hot as the Sun’s surface. Earth’s atmosphere during re-entry.

Finally, the inspector general described what NASA officials consider the “primary critical path” for the Artemis II mission: preparing Orion for its first crew and integrating it with the European Service Module, which will provide power and propulsion. Provides. The “critical path” in project planning refers to the aspect of the mission that is expected to take the longest time.

artemis purpose

The Artemis II mission was based on the success of the Artemis I mission, an unmanned test flight that sent NASA’s Orion capsule on a 1.4 million mile journey to the Moon. The journey ended in December 2022.

The Artemis II mission will be the first time a human will orbit the Moon since the end of the Apollo program. The crew, announced in April, includes NASA’s Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The trip will last about 10 days and will send the crew beyond the Moon, possibly farther into space than any human has ever traveled, although the exact distance has not yet been determined.

Artemis II is expected to pave the way for the Artemis III mission, which will take place later this decade and which NASA promises will mark the first time there will be a woman and person of color on the lunar surface. This will be the first time that a human will land on the Moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

NASA has set a launch date of 2025 for Artemis III, although the space agency’s inspector general said the mission is likely to be postponed to 2026 or later due to delays.