NASA delays next Artemis moon mission to 2026

NASA pushes back astronaut flights to the moon again

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER WITH ASTRONAUT CHRISTINA COOK. SHE GAVE ME A VERY COOL TOUR, AND I WANT TO SHARE SOME OF IT WITH YOU. IT’S THE TRAINING CAPSULE FOR COOK AND HER THREE TEAMMATES. A MOCK UP OF THE ACTUAL CAPSULE. ORION. THAT’S GOING TO TAKE THEM ON THEIR MISSION AROUND THE MOON. TUCK AND ROLL. YOU GOT IT. WHAT? YOU’RE SAYING? YEAH, YOU’RE NAILING IT. YOU’RE READY. AND THEN THIS STRAP IS NICE. THIS CAN SUPPORT YOUR WEIGHT. SO YOU CAN JUST. YEAH. SO NOW YOU’RE IN. YOU’RE READY FOR LAUNCH, AND WE’LL PROBABLY BE IN THIS POSITION FOR SEVERAL HOURS ON THE LAUNCH PAD REALLY BEFORE THE BIG MOMENT. YEP. SO THIS IS YOUR SEAT. WHO’S GOING TO BE SITTING THERE. THIS WILL BE JEREMY HANSEN. AND THEN THIS IS REID WISEMAN COMMANDER, AND VICTOR GLOVER, THE PILOT. SO THEY HAVE THE DISPLAYS, WHICH MEANS THEY’RE KIND OF WHAT WE WOULD CALL PRIME FOR THE VEHICLE TELEMETRY AND COMMANDING DURING ASCENT. SO LAUNCH AND ALSO DURING REENTRY. BUT FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE MISSION, WE ACTUALLY DISASSEMBLE THESE SEATS. AND THERE AREN’T SEATS BECAUSE YOU DON’T NEED SEATS IN SPACE WHEN YOU’RE FLOATING. YOU DON’T NEED SEATS OR SHOES, WHICH IS KIND OF NICE. AND THEN WE WILL ALL BE ABLE TO COMMAND AND LOOK AT TELEMETRY FROM THE VEHICLE, AND WE ALL SORT OF WILL BE IN CHARGE OF DIFFERENT PHASES OF THE MISSION THROUGHOUT THE MISSION. SO YOU’LL JUST BE FLOATING. WE WILL JUST BE FLOATING. AND WHEN YOU FLOAT, YOU KIND OF USE ANY, ANYTHING TO HOOK A TOW UNDER, HOOK AN ELBOW TO STAY IN PLACE IF YOU NEED TO. SO MY GUESS IS WE’LL ALL KIND OF FIND OUR FAVORITE NOOKS IN HERE, AND WE’LL HAVE KIND OF STANDARD LOCATIONS, BUT THINGS LIKE WHEN PEOPLE NEED TO EXERCISE WILL KIND OF ALL HAVE TO SHIFT AROUND FOR THAT. IT’S SO GREAT TO BE INSIDE HERE. IT REALLY IS SO INSPIRING TO SEE. EXACTLY. YEAH. THAT’S HOW WE THAT’S HOW WE SEE IT. AND THERE IS THERE’S SO MUCH PACKED IN HERE. A COUPLE THINGS I CAN POINT OUT. THIS AREA HERE, THE CENTER OF ALL THINGS SPACE, FOOD AND EATING IS CREATING WATER BECAUSE EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS DEHYDRATED. SO TO BASICALLY COOK MEANS YOU’RE ADDING WATER TO SOMETHING. SO THAT IS WHERE THE WATER DISPENSER IS. SO ALL THE ACTION FOR DINNER HAPPENS OVER HERE. AND THEN WHAT WE HAVE OVER HERE UNDER YOUR FEET IS ACTUALLY THE TOILET. IT’S BUILT INTO THE FLOOR. IT’S A SMALL LITTLE COMPARTMENT AND IT’S ALL JUST REALLY COMPACT, LIKE A SPACE RV. IT’S AMAZING. MY THANKS TO CHRISTINA AND HER TEAM FOR THAT EXPERIENCE. NOT A LOT OF SPACE IN THERE.

NASA pushes back astronaut flights to the moon again

NASA announced more delays Thursday in sending astronauts back to the moon more than 50 years after Apollo.Administrator Bill Nelson said the next mission in the Artemis program -- sending four astronauts around the moon and back �� is now targeted for April 2026. It had been on the books for September 2025, after slipping from this year. The investigation into heat shield damage from the capsule's initial test flight two years ago took time, officials said, and other spacecraft improvements are still needed.This bumps the third Artemis mission �� a moon landing by two other astronauts �� to at least 2027. NASA had been aiming for 2026.NASA's Artemis program, a follow-up to the Apollo moonshots of the late 1960s and early 1970s, has completed only one mission. An empty Orion capsule circled the moon in 2022 after blasting off on NASA's new Space Launch System rocket.Although the launch and lunar laps went well, the capsule returned with an excessively charred and eroded bottom heat shield, damaged from the heat of reentry. It took until recently for engineers to pinpoint the cause and come up with a plan. NASA will use the Orion capsule with its original heat shield for the next flight with four astronauts, according to Nelson, but make changes to the reentry path at flight's end. To rip off and replace the heat shield would have meant at least a full year's delay, officials said.During the flight test, the capsule dipped in and out of the atmosphere during reentry and heat built up in the shield's outer layer, explained Pam Melroy, NASA deputy administrator. That resulted in cracking and uneven shedding of the outer layer.The commander of the lunar fly-around, astronaut Reid Wiseman, took part in Thursday's news conference at NASA headquarters in Washington. His crew includes NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. "Delays are agonizing and slowing down is agonizing and it's not what we like to do," Wiseman said. But he said he and his crew wanted the heat shield damage from the first flight to be fully understood, regardless of how long it took.Twenty-four astronauts flew to the moon during NASA's vaulted Apollo program, with 12 landing on it. The final bootprints in the lunar dust were made during Apollo 17 in December 1972.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. —

NASA announced more delays Thursday in sending astronauts back to the moon more than 50 years after Apollo.

Administrator Bill Nelson said the next mission in the Artemis program -- sending four astronauts around the moon and back �� is now targeted for April 2026. It had been on the books for September 2025, after slipping from this year.

The investigation into heat shield damage from the capsule's initial test flight two years ago took time, officials said, and other spacecraft improvements are still needed.

This bumps the third Artemis mission �� a moon landing by two other astronauts �� to at least 2027. NASA had been aiming for 2026.

NASA's Artemis program, a follow-up to the Apollo moonshots of the late 1960s and early 1970s, has completed only one mission. An empty Orion capsule circled the moon in 2022 after blasting off on NASA's new Space Launch System rocket.

Although the launch and lunar laps went well, the capsule returned with an excessively charred and eroded bottom heat shield, damaged from the heat of reentry. It took until recently for engineers to pinpoint the cause and come up with a plan.

NASA will use the Orion capsule with its original heat shield for the next flight with four astronauts, according to Nelson, but make changes to the reentry path at flight's end. To rip off and replace the heat shield would have meant at least a full year's delay, officials said.

During the flight test, the capsule dipped in and out of the atmosphere during reentry and heat built up in the shield's outer layer, explained Pam Melroy, NASA deputy administrator. That resulted in cracking and uneven shedding of the outer layer.

The commander of the lunar fly-around, astronaut Reid Wiseman, took part in Thursday's news conference at NASA headquarters in Washington. His crew includes NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

"Delays are agonizing and slowing down is agonizing and it's not what we like to do," Wiseman said. But he said he and his crew wanted the heat shield damage from the first flight to be fully understood, regardless of how long it took.

Twenty-four astronauts flew to the moon during NASA's vaulted Apollo program, with 12 landing on it. The final bootprints in the lunar dust were made during Apollo 17 in December 1972.

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NASA pushes back astronaut flights to the moon again

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