NASA Delays Human Moon Landing Goal to 2026

"Need for Improvements to Ensure Astronaut Safety"

The United States has postponed its plan to send humans back to the lunar surface by one year to 2026.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on the 9th (local time) that the Artemis program's second phase plan (Artemis II), which involves sending a crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon, will be delayed until September 2025, and the third phase plan (Artemis III), which involves landing astronauts on the Moon, will be postponed until September 2026.

Originally, NASA planned to launch a spacecraft carrying four astronauts into lunar orbit in November this year for the Artemis II mission and then proceed with the Artemis III mission next year to land them on the Moon. However, with this announcement, the phased schedule of Artemis will be delayed by about one year each.

NASA explained, "Issues requiring more time to resolve were discovered during the testing process to verify elements that ensure crew safety and mission success." NASA Administrator Bill Nelson also stated, "The safety of astronauts is the top priority in preparing for the Artemis missions."

Earlier, in December 2022, NASA revealed that several problems were found during the Artemis phase 1 mission, which involved the unmanned Orion spacecraft's lunar orbit flight. They further explained that efforts are underway to resolve issues related to battery problems and circuit components responsible for air ventilation and temperature control.

Although Orion was successfully launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and returned safely to Earth after 25 days, NASA stated that issues requiring improvements to ensure astronaut safety were exposed.

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