NASA’s Moon Return Missions Face Further Delays

The Artemis II and III missions, which aim to return U.S. astronauts to the Moon, have been delayed once again. At a press briefing, NASA officials revealed that issues with the heat shield and life support systems would push back the launches to 2026 and 2027.

On December 5, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Associate Administrator Jim Free, and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman updated the public on the Artemis program, which focuses on returning astronauts to the Moon and establishing a permanent presence there.

Issues with Heat Shield and Life Support Systems

The officials explained that the delay is due to ongoing issues with the heat shield, which protects the crew capsule during reentry, and problems with the environmental control and life support systems on the Orion spacecraft. These challenges have resulted in the need to push back the mission timelines once again.

The Artemis II mission, initially planned for launch between 2019 and 2021, featured two U.S. astronauts and one Canadian astronaut orbiting the Moon. They first postponed the mission to 2023, then moved it to September 2025, and now set it for April 2026.

Problems with the Heat Shield

Similarly, NASA has scheduled Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts at the Moon’s south pole, for no earlier than mid-2027. Some speculate that the mission might scrap the lunar landing or replace it with a mission focused on low Earth orbit for technology testing.

The primary reason for the delays lies with the heat shield. Engineers created the shield, the largest ever made for a crewed spacecraft, using a special epoxy novolac resin, Avcoat, embedded in a fiberglass honeycomb matrix. They originally developed it for the Apollo Command Module and have since reformulated it to meet modern environmental standards.

Problems arose during the Artemis I uncrewed mission when the heat shield didn’t perform as expected.During reentry at 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h), they found that the shield’s sections charred and didn’t ablate properly.Subsequent tests revealed that gases generated by the intense heat of reentry hadn’t escaped as they should, leading to cracks and damage to the shield.

This delay is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Artemis program, which has faced criticism over its mission goals and reliance on outdated 1970s Space Shuttle technology for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The program has also experienced significant cost overruns, with the budget soaring to $93 billion by 2023, and a launch cost of at least $2.2 billion every two years.

Challenges in the Context of Growing Competition

These challenges are particularly notable at a time when SpaceX plans to launch a rocket larger than the SLS 25 times in 2025, with a lower cost and a more frequent launch schedule. Other private companies are also advancing lunar and interplanetary missions.

Despite the setbacks, NASA continues to assemble the Orion spacecraft for both Artemis II and III and remains confident in the program’s future. However, the delays and the apparent reluctance to embrace more current space technologies have led some critics to suggest that NASA might focus more on deep space exploration, where it has had recent successes, and step away from human spaceflight and space launch programs.

Nelson’s Statement on Artemis Program

The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do,said Nelson. We have made significant progress over the last four years, and I’m proud of the work our teams have done to prepare us for the next step in exploration. We need to get this next test flight right—that’s how Artemis will succeed.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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