New York [US], March 2: NASA is completely overhauling its crisis-ridden Artemis moon programme, the US space agency's chief administrator Jared Isaacman said on Friday.
The Artemis 3 mission, which was originally intended to land a crew on the moon no earlier than 2028, is now slated to launch next year, but will not land on the moon, Isaacman told a press briefing.
Instead, the Orion capsule will dock with one or two lunar landers in space during this mission. Additionally, there may even be two moon landing attempts in 2028 - Artemis 4 and Artemis 5.
Isaacman said the gaps between missions had been too long. "With credible competition from our greatest geopolitical adversary increasing by the day, we need to move faster, eliminate delays, and achieve our objectives," he said in a statement.
A renewed global race to the moon has been underway for years. The United States' main competitor is China, which aims to send humans to the moon by 2030. Russia also plans to send humans to the moon but faces delays due to economic difficulties.
The delayed Artemis 2 mission is still scheduled to launch as soon as possible, aiming to bring humans close to the moon for the first time in more than half a century.
US astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, along with their Canadian colleague Jeremy Hansen, are due to fly around the moon during the approximately ten-day mission.
However, due to technical problems with the rocket system, this mission is postponed, and a new possible launch date has not yet been set. The last time US astronauts walked on the moon was in 1972.
Source: Qatar Tribune