WASHINGTON, January 9NASA has postponed manned flights to the Moon, the Artemis II orbital mission has been postponed until September next year, NASA head Bill Nelson said at a press conference.
“Safety is our top priority, and to give Artemis program staff more time to resolve mission design, build and integration issues, we are giving more time to the Artemis II and Artemis III missions,” he said.
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According to the new schedule, a manned lunar flight, the Artemis II mission, was planned for September 2025, and a crew landing on the Moon in 2026, Nelson said.
The Artemis IV mission, which will take participation in the construction of a lunar station was postponed to September 2028, the head of NASA added.
The flight as part of the Artemis I lunar program took place in November 2022. This was the first integrated launch of the SLS launch vehicle and the Orion spacecraft created jointly with the European Space Agency.
It was previously reported that the Artemis II mission would fly this year and land next year. At the same time, experts, including the US control agency, warned that numerous delays would not allow these deadlines to be met.
Nelson himself also emphasized that NASA would not send a man to the Moon until full confidence in the safety of flights and allowed them to be postponed .
The news comes amid the failure of a mission to send the private lander Peregrine to the surface of the Earth's satellite. It launched on the latest Vulcan rocket the day before and was due to land on the Moon at the end of February. However, eight hours after launch, problems with the propulsion system of the device became known.
Today, the Astrobotic company, which developed the lander under a contract with NASA, announced that the probe continues to fly, but there is no longer a chance of a soft landing.< br />