NASA announces overhaul of Artemis lunar programme amid technical delays
The Hindu
NASA revamps its Artemis lunar program to address delays and ensure a Moon landing by 2028.
NASA on February 27 abruptly said it was shaking up its Artemis lunar program that has suffered multiple delays in recent years, a bid to ensure Americans can return to the Moon's surface by 2028.
That goal remains unchanged, but the US space agency is shifting its flight line-up to include a test mission before an eventual lunar landing to improve launch "muscle memory," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said.
That strategic revision comes amid repeated delays to the Artemis 2 mission, which was originally due to take off as early as February, but now will not launch before April. It is meant to see the first flyby of the Moon in more than half a century.
Earlier this week that mission faced another setback when NASA rolled back its towering SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft off the launchpad to investigate problems and make necessary repairs.
The announced changes mean that Artemis 3, which was meant to send astronauts to the Moon's surface, will now have the different test goal of "rendezvous in low-Earth orbit" of at least one lunar lander.
The next phase, Artemis 4, will aim for a lunar landing in early 2028. Isaacman said he hoped that mission could be followed relatively quickly by a second landing within the year.
