NASA postpones Artemis II lunar mission until April 2026.

NASA has announced a new schedule for its upcoming Artemis missions, which aim to send astronauts to the Moon. This marks the second delay for these crewed missions, as the agency had already adjusted the timeline in January of this year. The launch of the Artemis 2 mission is now expected to take place in April 2026, while the Artemis 3 mission has been postponed until mid-2027.

The delay is partly attributed to issues with the thermal shield of the Orion spacecraft during the uncrewed test flight of Artemis 1. During this mission, it was observed that the burned material on the thermal shield wore down unexpectedly. Data collected inside the capsule revealed that if there had been a crew onboard during the flight, the temperatures would have been safe, despite the thermal shield's performance not meeting expectations. However, this is a critical aspect that cannot be taken lightly once astronauts are on board.

Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut who will lead the Artemis II mission, commented, "Victor, Christina, Jeremy, and I have been attentive to all aspects of this decision, and we are grateful for NASA's openness in evaluating all options and making decisions in the best interest of human space exploration." Wiseman expressed his excitement for the Artemis 2 flight, which is considered crucial for continuing sustainable exploration of the Moon and Mars. The other three crew members of Artemis 2 are Victor Glover and Christina Koch from NASA, along with Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.

The Artemis 2 mission is scheduled to be a ten-day flight around the Moon and back to Earth. Although the crew will not land on the most familiar satellite, this test aims to gather more data about the Orion spacecraft before the Artemis 3 mission, where a team is planned to set foot on the lunar south pole.