In what really came as no surprise, NASA today announced that the next two Artemis missions to the Moon will be pushed back at least six months.
At NASA news briefing NASA said the “Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do. We have made significant progress on the Artemis campaign over the past four years, and I’m proud of the work our teams have done to prepare us for this next step forward in exploration as we look to learn more about Orion’s life support systems to sustain crew operations during Artemis II. We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds.”
The Artemis II mission, which includes Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen along with NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, is now scheduled for no earlier than April 2026. This mission won’t see astronauts land on the Moon, but will fly by the Moon as illustrated below at a greater distance than any human has gone before.
The Artemis III mission will be the first to have humans land on the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. That mission is now scheduled no earlier than mid-2027.
The reason for the delay in part was an issue with the Orion spacecraft heat shield which experienced “an unexpected loss of charred material during re-entry of the Artemis I uncrewed test flight.” NASA has since found the issue and described it as follows.
“Extensive analysis, including from more than 100 tests at unique facilities across the country, determined the heat shield on Artemis I did not allow for enough of the gases generated inside a material called Avcoat to escape, which caused some of the material to crack and break off.”
NASA also said that the “updated mission timelines also reflect time to address the Orion environmental control and life support systems.”
Lisa Campbell, President of the Canadian said the following in a statement, “Humanity is returning to the Moon and as a space-faring nation with decades of experience, Canada is proud to be part of this technically complex, collaborative international effort. We have full confidence that NASA’s decision to delay the Artemis II mission to no earlier than April 2026 is guided by their commitment to the safety of the crew and the overall success of the Artemis campaign. We are working closely with NASA and all our international partners to advance human spaceflight. The Canadian Space Agency is committed to the peaceful and sustainable exploration and development of space for the benefit of all.”
