NASA is delaying a return to the moon until at least 2026

The illusion of seeing man walking on the moon again will have to wait a little longer. First-person landing on the Artemis (or Artemis) mission may be delayed until at least 2026As confirmed by the Inspector General of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Paul Martin.

“If given the time needed to build and test NASA’s next-generation human landing system and spacesuits, We estimate the date for humans to land on the moon Soon it will be late until 2026”, Martin told a panel of lawmakers at the House Aeronautics and Space Subcommittee Inquiry.

As the expert slipped, there is still a lot of work to be done How to create the perfect space suit for these future astronauts – It will not be completed before 2025– Or Neil Armstrong and the drone needed by NASA’s new rocket to replace the efficient Saturn V that carried 11 people who set foot on our natural satellite. Artemis 1 suffered several delays, often associated with the giant SLS rocket. It will not be launched (in principle) until the end of May and may be pushed back to June, the space agency said.

NASA’s plan Thing Artemis made two missions to orbit the moon. Without the first group, with the second group. In 2021, it postponed the return of humans to the moon until 2025.

“We continue to evaluate the May window, but We know there is a lot of work aheadTom Whitmeyer, associate associate executive for research systems development, told a conference at NASA headquarters in Washington. Billions of dollars have been invested in research and development on these two projects, as well as more funding for the SpaceX starship lunar lander. And the Lunar Gateway Space Station, all designed Make travel to the moon stable.

That’s NASA’s plan Artemis made two missions to orbit the moon. LFirst without staff and second with crew. He is expected toEach of his first four Artemis trips cost $ 4.1 billion. According to the November 2021 Audit of NASA’s Office of the Inspector General.

Delays and additional budgeting are due to technical issues and in part protests and last year’s Blue Origin case. (All settled in November) Related to NASA’s only source of the HLS agreement for SpaceX’s starship system. Martin’s news came just days after NASA announced that the Artemis 1, a drone orbiting the moon, would not be launched before May, but that timeline was also in doubt due to the amount of other work to be done on data analysis and key tests. The company said last week.

At trial, Martin admitted it The Inspector General’s role should be more critical of the deadline than NASA’s, but he said the 2025 deadline that the company aims for is unlikely. (That deadline is an extension of the 2024 Trump-era landing, which was abandoned in November.) There are challenges to be faced, with Martin said, “with the changes in the agency’s procurement strategy to obtain the manned landing system certification to operate space wear, key technologies are” immature “. “.

These factors, “often indicate that it takes more time [requerir] Development to get there. So 2025 is not impossible, but it seems unlikely. The U.S. Office of Government Accountability points to a similar pessimism with the goal of returning to the moon by 2025. The testimony of William Russell, director of the GAO’s National Security Agreement and Acquisitions, pointed out that the problem was that NASA was trying to manage “multiple risks at once” when approaching a tight deadline.

Russell pointed to factors such as a 7-month delay, a major shift in the spacesuit development to work with a contractor instead of working domestically, and a rise in the price for the space launch system rocket (SLS). “We have discovered that NASA has not yet finalized the roles, responsibilities and powers of Artemis, and NASA is currently in the process of restructuring the Directorate of Human Research mission. It will be important for NASA to continue to coordinate with us in the future and to adjust for changes throughout the program, “said Russell.

NASA, for its part, pointed to unforeseen problems that contributed to rising costs and schedule delays, particularly those associated with the corona virus infection.This has created supply chain hiccups and challenges for employees due to safety protocols.

“Every part of the work I mentioned is made possible by those at NASA and our private sector partners. Our people have made deliveries despite Govt, including the loss of some of our teammates due to the corona virus. Houses have been damaged due to the severe storm and people have come to work without electricity. They come with a research sense, and it’s always as solid as hardware, “said James Free, co-executive director of the agency’s research development directory at Artemis.

Free did not directly discuss the deadline for the Artemis 3 crew to land, but said additional information on costs and deadlines would be provided when NASA makes its next budget. However he acknowledged that their approach was to maintain a “realistic timeline and budget”. Speaking of his management shake-up, Free noted that it was rational to deal with large-scale projects due to the inclusion of Artemis. As the technology matured NASA’s Operations Task Force worked to improve its organization.

For long-term planning, another major goal of the restoration is to allow the Frey administration to mature the technology he claims is the ultimate goal of Artemis: to put two on the surface of Mars for 30 days and send them back safely to Earth. Working on the moon would allow the agency to learn about the astronauts’ behavior in a similar semi-gravitational environment, although NASA agreed that the lander would have to be reconfigured to operate in the Martian atmosphere.

NASA selected four women and six men from more than 18,000 candidates. Artemis III has been offered since March 2020 for the creation of the mission. The training of selected specialists began in January 2022, when they were to be flown to the Johnson Space Center in Texas, USA.

The training will last two years and will be part of the astronauts’ journey to the space station, visiting the moon and eventually Mars. Members of the Artemis group: Joseph Agaba, Kayla Baron, Raja Sari, Matthew Dominic, Victor Clover, Warren Hoburk, Johnny Kim, Christina Hummak Koch, Gazelle Lindgren, Nicole A. Mann, Anne McLean, Jessica Meyer, Jasmine Mokbeli, Kate Rubins. Frank Rubio, Scott Dingle, Jessica Watkins and Stephanie Wilson. Although most have military experience, a firefighter who worked at SpaceX has become a university professor, cyclist, fighter pilot and engineer and physician.

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