NASA announced last Thursday (5) its decision to postpone the launch schedule of the Artemis II and III lunar missions, the first mission to take astronauts to the Moon since the end of the Apollo era in the 1970s.
According to the new calendar, Artemis II’s release date has been postponed from September 2025 to April 2026, seven months after the original date. Artemis III, which was previously planned to be launched at the end of 2026, is planned to be launched in mid-2027. It is worth remembering that tasks have been postponed before.
According to Bill Nelson, head of the American space agency, the change was necessary due to technical problems in the capsule that would carry the crew. The manager explained that the Orion capsule’s thermal shield, built to protect astronauts during atmospheric entry, showed cracks.
“We, our industry and our international partners need this time to ensure that the Orion capsule is ready to safely take our astronauts into deep space and return them to Earth,” he said at a press conference last Thursday.
He also emphasized that NASA has conducted numerous tests to predict all the risks that Astronauts may face while carrying out the mission to return to the Moon. […] “We won’t fly until we’re ready.”
Even with the change, Nelson underlined that the launch should occur much earlier than the date announced by the Chinese government, which plans to send a manned mission to the Moon in 2030.
Artemis Program
Announced in 2017, the Artemis Program aims to establish a permanent presence on the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars. In 2022, the Artemis 1 mission was successfully carried out, sending the unmanned Orion capsule around the Moon after delays. If all goes well, the launch of Artemis 3 will be the first manned landing on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
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Source: Tec Mundo
I’m Blaine Morgan, an experienced journalist and writer with over 8 years of experience in the tech industry. My expertise lies in writing about technology news and trends, covering everything from cutting-edge gadgets to emerging software developments. I’ve written for several leading publications including Gadget Onus where I am an author.
