Returning to the Moon after over 50 years... NASA "Delayed until after 2025"

Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator
[Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has postponed its plan to send humans back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years from the original 2024 to after 2025.

According to U.S. economic media CNBC and others, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated on the 9th (local time), "We will send a manned lunar exploration spacecraft only after 2025."

NASA is advancing the Artemis program to send humans back to the moon. The Artemis program plans to start by sending female astronauts and astronauts of color to the moon, return to the moon to establish a permanent facility, and also pursue manned exploration of Mars.

NASA initially set the manned exploration timeline for 2028, but the Trump administration moved it up to 2024. However, as the development of rockets, manned capsules, spacesuits, and other related technologies has been delayed beyond the original target date, doubts have been raised about whether a manned exploration spacecraft can be launched in 2024.

Administrator Nelson said, "We lost nearly seven months due to lawsuits related to the lunar lander," adding, "This likely delays the first astronaut landing to after 2025."

Regarding the lunar lander development project, NASA changed its plan to select two companies to only select SpaceX after Congress allocated less budget than expected. Competitor Blue Origin opposed this and filed a lawsuit but lost the ruling last week.

Nelson said, "Although the manned exploration goal has been postponed, solid progress is being made, such as the manned capsule 'Orion' being mounted on the new large rocket 'Space Launch System' (SLS)."

Human manned lunar exploration has been interrupted since Apollo 17 in 1972. Nelson stated, "NASA's position is that we want to be the first humans to land on the moon in over half a century."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.