NASA announced on Tuesday that astronauts will have to wait until next year to fly to the moon and at least two more years before landing on it, due to delays.

The agency originally intended to send four astronauts to orbit the moon at the end of this year, but has delayed the mission until September 2025. The planned return to the moon, which would mark the first human landing in over five decades, has also been rescheduled from 2025 to September 2026. NASA explained that safety concerns with their spacecraft, as well as challenges in the development of moonsuits and landers by private companies, were the reasons for the delays.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized that safety is their foremost concern and the delays will allow the Artemis teams to adequately address any obstacles.

The announcement was made just one hour after a company in Pittsburgh gave up on their own plan to land their spacecraft on the moon due to a fuel leak that would end the mission.

Launched Monday as part of NASA’s commercial lunar program, Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lander was supposed to serve as a scout for the astronauts. A Houston company will give it a shot with its own lander next month.

NASA is depending heavily on private companies for its Artemis mission to land astronauts on the moon. The mission is named after the mythological twin sister of Apollo.

The Starship mega rocket from SpaceX will play a crucial role in transporting the first Artemis moonwalkers to and from the lunar surface. However, the rocket, which stands at 400 feet (121 meters), has only been launched twice from Texas and both times resulted in explosions over the Gulf of Mexico. A third test flight is scheduled for February.

NASA will have to wait longer for its first moon landing with astronauts since 1972 if Starship takes longer to orbit Earth with satellites and crews. In the past, 12 astronauts from NASA’s Apollo era have walked on the moon, with the Soviet Union as their main competition. However, now it is China. Despite the latest delay, Nelson reassured reporters that he is not concerned about China beating America to the moon with a crew. He emphasized that they will not launch until they are fully prepared.

In November, the Government Accountability Office cautioned that NASA may not achieve its first moon landing with astronauts until 2027 due to various technical difficulties, including the utilization of Elon Musk’s Starship. There is also a possibility of encountering obstacles in the creation of moonwalking suits by Houston-based Axiom Space.

According to NASA’s deputy associate administrator Amit Kshatriya, it is crucial for all aspects to be prepared and executed successfully for the complex mission to be successful. He also noted that despite the delay, the goal of a 2026 moon landing is still a highly ambitious timeline.

NASA has completed one mission for the Artemis moonshot. In 2022, they tested a new moon rocket by sending an empty Orion capsule to orbit the moon and back to Earth. During reentry, engineers were surprised to find charred material coming off the heat shield. Further testing revealed a design flaw in the life-support electronics and battery problems.

This is the identical type of capsule that will transport astronauts to and from the moon. It will connect with Starship in lunar orbit for the journey to and from the surface.

Starship will need to fill up its fuel tank in orbit around Earth, before heading to the moon; SpaceX estimates an estimated 10 fuel transfers will be needed. The company plans an orbiting fuel depot to handle the job, another key aspect of the program yet to be demonstrated.

The implementation of NASA’s mission to land on the moon has faced numerous delays in the past ten years, resulting in a significant increase in its budget. According to government audits, the overall cost of the program is estimated to reach $93 billion by 2025.

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The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group provides support to the Associated Press Health and Science Department. The AP is solely responsible for all of the content.

Source: wral.com