September 2026 is the date NASA manages to return humans to the moon more than five decades after the last Apollo mission. Initially planned a year in advance, projects were delayed because of “security”. … Private companies involved in the project “need more time.” This was announced by Bill Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of the US Space Research Center, at a press conference on January 9. In that appearance, Artemis II – Artemis III also announced the postponement of the previous mission – the aforementioned return to the Moon – in which the Orion probe carried four astronauts into lunar orbit. It will be in 2025 instead of 2024.
The latest problems identified in an already troubled project focus on the Orion probe. On its first flight in late 2022, the spacecraft ‘Artemis I’, which reached lunar orbit, suffered extensive damage to the thermal shield that protects it on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Withstands temperatures up to 2,800 degrees. It was already known. What is new is that the latest report of NASA’s OIG (Office of Inspector General) indicated the extent of the damage: material detachment at hundreds of points on the parade and four screws fixing the capsule to the service module.
The US space agency stressed that the accidents did not affect the crew compartment. However, they are analyzing the possibility of modifying the structure of the shield or changing the re-entry angle so that such high temperatures are not generated. Both represent setbacks that can affect work schedules. Also important were the various electronic problems discovered, some inconsistencies in the batteries and the inability to test the condition of the parachutes when they disappeared at sea.
An inspection of Artemis I showed that the launch pad, the giant 98-meter-tall SLS rocket that was supposed to carry Orion to the moon, was more damaged than expected. The planned budget for repairs rose from 5 to 26 million. In addition to all this, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has a lot more work to do with Starship and Axiom. There is already talk that Artemis III could be converted to a mission to low Earth orbit. Meanwhile, China is moving forward with its lunar plans, and this Friday Chang’e 6 will be launched to the far side of the moon, where it hopes to collect samples from the far side of the satellite and bring them back to Earth. This would be an unprecedented milestone in the space race.
