CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, USA (AP) — NASA announced on Thursday further delays in sending astronauts to the Moon more than 50 years after the Apollo mission.
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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said that the next mission of the Artemis program, in which four astronauts will fly around the Moon and then return to Earth, is scheduled for April 2026. It was previously planned for September 2025 but was delayed this year.
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Officials explained that the investigation into the damages suffered by the thermal shield during the first test flight of the capsule two years ago took time, and that further improvements are still needed on the spacecraft.
This delays the third Artemis mission -a moon landing by two other astronauts- at least until 2027. NASA's goal was 2026.
NASA's Artemis program, a continuation of the late sixties and early seventies Apollo lunar missions, has only completed one mission so far. In 2022, an empty Orion capsule orbited the Moon after launching on NASA's new Space Launch System rocket.
Although the launch and lunar orbits proceeded smoothly, the capsule returned with the lower heat shield excessively charred and eroded, damaged by the heat of reentry. It was only recently that engineers were able to pinpoint the cause and develop a plan.
NASA will use the Orion capsule with its original heat shield for the next flight with four astronauts, according to Nelson, but will introduce changes in the reentry trajectory at the end of the flight. Starting over and replacing the heat shield would have meant a delay of at least a whole year and would have further postponed the moon landing, according to officials.
During the test flight, NASA had the capsule enter and exit the atmosphere during reentry, and gases accumulated in the outer layer of the heat shield, according to officials. This caused cracks and irregular detachment of the outer material.
The commander of the lunar flyby, astronaut Reid Wiseman, participated in the press conference on Thursday at NASA headquarters in Washington. His crew includes NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
"Delays are distressing, slowing down the flight is distressing and it's not what we like to do," Wiseman said. But he stated that he and his crew wanted the damages suffered by the thermal shield on the first flight to be fully understood, regardless of how long it took. Now they can focus on this 'big decision ahead'.
Twenty-four astronauts flew to the Moon during NASA's Apollo missions, and 12 landed on it. The last footprints on the lunar dust were made during Apollo 17 in December 1972.
Nelson pointed out that, according to the revised schedule, the United States should return astronauts to the lunar surface before China, which has set 2030 for a manned moon landing.
According to Nelson, the space agency has warned all Artemis contractors, including SpaceX, of Elon Musk, that they must "redouble their efforts" to meet the established deadlines. SpaceX's Starship megarocket, which is conducting test flights from Texas with increasing frequency, is the way astronauts will travel from the Orion capsule in lunar orbit to the surface during the first two Artemis moon landings.
Nelson said that he has already called Jared Isaacman, the billionaire flying with SpaceX nominated this week by Trump to lead NASA, and has invited him to NASA headquarters in Washington.