More Delays For NASA’s Astronaut Moonshots, With Crew Landing Off Until 2026

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida NASA – Astronauts will have to wait until next year to fly to the moon and at least two years to land there, according to the latest round of delays disclosed by NASA on Tuesday.

The space agency had intended to fly four men around the moon late this year, but the mission was pushed back until September 2025. The first human moon landing in over 50 years was also pushed out from 2025 to September 2026. NASA cited safety difficulties with its spacecraft and development issues with moon suits and landers made by private businesses.

“Safety is our top priority,” stated NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. The postponements will “give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenges.”

The announcement came about an hour after a Pittsburgh company abandoned its attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon due to a mission-ending fuel leak.

More Delays For NASA’s Astronaut Moonshots, With Crew Landing Off Until 2026

Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lander, launched on Monday as part of NASA’s commercial lunar program, was intended to serve as a scout for astronauts. A Houston-based startup will test it with its lander next month.

NASA relies largely on private corporations for its Artemis moon-landing program for astronauts, named after Apollo’s legendary twin sister.

SpaceX’s Starship mega rocket will be needed to transport the first Artemis moonwalkers from lunar orbit to the surface and back. However, the almost 400-foot (121-meter) rocket has only been launched from Texas twice; both exploded over the Gulf of Mexico. A third test flight is scheduled for February.

The longer it takes to place Starship in orbit above Earth, first with satellites and then with personnel, the longer NASA will have to wait before attempting its first moon landing with astronauts since 1972. During NASA’s Apollo program, twelve astronauts stepped on the moon. Previously, the competitor was the Soviet Union; now, it is China. Despite the recent delay, Nelson told reporters he is not concerned that China will beat America to the moon with a crew. Even so, “we don’t fly until it’s ready,” he insisted.

In November, the Government Accountability Office warned that NASA’s first astronaut lunar landing would likely be in 2027, citing Elon Musk’s Starship as one of the numerous technological obstacles. Axiom Space, based in Houston, is developing moonwalking suits.

More Delays For NASA’s Astronaut Moonshots, With Crew Landing Off Until 2026

“We need them all to be ready and successful in order for that very complicated mission to come together,” stated Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s deputy associate administrator. Despite the delay, he said that a moon landing in 2026 is “a very aggressive schedule.”

NASA has only conducted one Artemis moonshot thus far. In a test flight of its new moon rocket in 2022, the space agency launched an empty Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit and returned it to Earth. Engineers were surprised when some burnt material fell off the capsule’s thermal shield during reentry. Later, tests on another capsule revealed a design defect in the life-support circuitry and separate battery difficulties.

More Delays For NASA’s Astronaut Moonshots, With Crew Landing Off Until 2026

The same type of capsule will transport astronauts to and from the moon, connecting with Starship in lunar orbit for the journey down to the surface and back up.

Before travelling to the moon, the Starship must fill its fuel tank in orbit around Earth; SpaceX believes that 10 fuel transfers will be required. The business intends to do the job with an orbiting fuel depot, another essential part of the program that has yet to be shown.

NASA’s moon landing mission has been repeatedly postponed over the last decade, adding billions of dollars to the cost. Government audits estimate overall program expenditures to be $93 billion until 2025.

SOURCE – (AP)