The American space agency NASA has postponed the manned lunar orbiter “Artemis 2”, previously planned for November 2024, until September 2025 due to problems with the rocket and spacecraft. The planned manned moon landing ‘Artemis 3’ will be postponed until September 2026, NASA announced at a press conference on Tuesday. ‘Artemis 4’, another planned moon landing, is still scheduled for September 2028.
“We are doing something incredibly difficult,” said NASA CEO Bill Nelson. “And safety is our top priority.” That’s why they want to give the teams more time to work on the current challenges.
The intention was for American astronaut Christina Koch, her American colleagues Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen to fly around the moon in the ‘Orion’ capsule for about ten days in November 2024. They would have been the first four astronauts near the moon since the astronauts of the ‘Apollo 17’ mission set foot on Earth’s satellite for a time in 1972.
At the end of 2022, the rocket system “Space Launch System” and the capsule “Orion” were successfully tested unmanned for the first time. About a year after ‘Artemis 2’, another manned flight, including a moon landing, would follow, ‘Artemis 3’.
The “Artemis” program, named after the Greek goddess of the moon, aims to land a woman and a non-white person on the moon for the first time – this was originally scheduled to take place in 2024, but this timeline was added doubted by experts from the start. The European Space Agency ESA and space organizations from several other countries are involved in “Artemis”.
The last time humans were on the moon was about 50 years ago with the mission “Apollo 17” – the landing took place on December 11, 1972. In total, the US was the only country so far to have sent twelve astronauts with the “Apollo 17 ” brought along. missions to the moon between 1969 and 1972.
(sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
