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NASAleaders have foretell they are pushing back two of the agency ’s flagshipArtemismissions — Artemis II and Artemis III — amid safety concerns .
Artemis II , which will send four astronautson a round head trip around the moon and was to begin with schedule for November 2024 , is now slate to lift off in September 2025 . The timeline for Artemis III , which plans to bring down the crew on themoon ’s south perch , has dislodge to verify lessons learned from Artemis II can be incorporate into Artemis III . Originally targeted for later 2025 , NASA now aims to launch Artemis III in September 2026 , agency drawing card harbinger on Tuesday ( Jan. 9 ) .
NASA’s Artemis campaign will land the first woman and person of color on the moon.
" Safety is our top antecedence , and to give Artemis teams more time to work through the challenge with first - time developments , operations and desegregation , we ’re conk to give more time on Artemis II and III , " NASA administratorBill Nelsonsaid in a news briefing .
Artemis IV — the plan first mission to a lunar month - orbiting distance station known asGateway — remains on data track to purloin off in September 2028 , Nelson said .
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The primary reason for reschedule the Artemis missionary post is to assure crew safety , NASA representatives said . Artemis II will be the first flight test with astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft and will expect all environmental control condition and life support systems to be reliable . Recent testing has uncover issue with a circuitry component responsible for air ventilation and temperature command , however . This , as well as a shelling issue , will require more metre to conclude than the original Artemis schedule allowed , according to astatement .
to safely hold out our upcoming # Artemis missions to the Moon with astronauts , we are now place September 2025 for Artemis II and September 2026 for Artemis III.Safety is our top priority . https://t.co/AjNjLo4U6E pic.twitter.com/VE74OtlUr6January 9 , 2024
NASA is also investigating the unexpected loss of protective material from the Orion space vehicle ’s heating shield during its Artemis I mission , whichlaunched in November 2022and was complete in December .
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" We ’ve learned a fortune since Artemis I , " Nelson said in the statement . " We are returning to the moon in a way we never have before , and the safety of our astronauts is NASA ’s top precedency as we prepare for future Artemis missions . "
The astronauts take for Artemis II and III admit the first woman and person of colour to set down on the moon .
" Artemis is a long - terminus geographic expedition run to conduct science at the moon with cosmonaut and prepare for next human missions to Mars,“Amit Kshatriya , the deputy associate decision maker for the Moon to Mars Program in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate , said in the argument . " That means we must get it right on as we develop and fly our foundational system so that we can safely carry out these missionary work . "
