NASA postpones missions to send astronauts to the Moon – 01/09/2024 – Science

NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced this Tuesday (9) the change in the dates of the next two missions with astronauts to the Moon.

“Safety is our top priority,” said Nelson, who announced “more time to work on development” of the Artemis project.

Artemis 2, previously planned for the end of this year, is now scheduled for September 2025. The mission involves a manned flight around the satellite.

The mission must be commanded by Reid Wiseman, systems engineer and test pilot, and piloted by Victor Glover, systems engineer. The other two crew members are electrical engineer Christina Koch and physics master’s student Jeremy Hansen, the only Canadian.

This must be the first time that four people have flown to the satellite. In the Apollo program missions, there were three.

Artemis 3, in turn, moved from the end of 2025 to September 2026. In this case, the objective is to land at the South Pole.

According to NASA, after landing, the crew’s first mission will be to check whether all systems are suitable for staying on the lunar soil. If everything is working, the group will have a few hours to eat and rest before starting a series of experiments.

During the satellite walks, photo and video capture, geological research and sample collection are planned.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX won the contract to develop a landing system for Artemis 3, based on a version of the Starship rocket, which is still far from ready.

Starship delays have ripple effects, as the spacesuit contractor needs to know how they behave on the spacecraft, and simulators need to be built for astronauts to learn how to operate their systems.

NASA also intends to build a lunar space station called Gateway, which will house spacecraft on later missions.