less than a year After announcing major delays for the next two Artemis moon missions, NASA managers said Thursday that projected flight dates are once again declining, with the first piloted trip around the moon now expected in the April 2026 time frame. , and the first lunar landing is expected to occur in mid-2027.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said efforts were made to modify the Orion crew capsule's re-entry trajectory and improve the capsule's environmental controls to reduce stress and prevent unexpected heat shield damage seen after the 2021 unpiloted test flight. The delay is needed to complete extensive testing. Life support systems.
NASA
Nelson said, “Based on the data, we have unanimously decided to proceed with the current Artemis 2/Orion capsule and a modified entry path with a heat shield…to reduce heat return to Earth's atmosphere.” For.”
“Additionally, we need to complete our updates to the Orion environmental controls and life support systems identified earlier this year.”
Future heat shields for the Artemis 3 moon landing mission and subsequent flights will use essentially the same materials but with modifications to improve their performance during re-entry.
Meanwhile, Nelson said, “We are planning to launch Artemis 2 in April 26 and we, along with our commercial partners, will do our best to launch before then.”
Artemis program aims to send astronauts to the Moon south polar region Where ice deposits may one day allow teams to extract oxygen and hydrogen to produce air, water and rocket propellant that would not have to be transported from Earth at great expense.
After the launch of Artemis 2, Nelson said that NASA “is going to make any necessary adjustments, and we plan to launch Artemis 3, which will be the first landing on the Moon in more than half a century. Once the SpaceX lander is ready, we plan to launch Artemis 3 in mid-2027, in line with the Chinese government's stated intention of launching Taykonauts to the Moon in 2030. “…we need to get the Artemis 2 test flight right to ensure the success of our return to the Moon.”
NASA launches the Artemis program's first test flight, Artemis 1, in November 2022, using the agency's new Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket to send an unpiloted Lockheed Martin-built Orion capsule on a looping flight around the moon Went and was sent back.
NASA had planned to launch the Artemis 2 mission later this year to carry a three-man one-woman crew around the moon to thoroughly test the spacecraft's life support, propulsion and other systems .
NASA
But After Artemis 1 flightEngineers, using a technique called “skip entry,” discovered that the Orion capsule's 16-foot-wide heat shield had suffered unexpected damage during its high-speed return from the Moon.
In skip entry, the capsule dives into the atmosphere, slows down and rises back up before returning to the atmosphere for final descent. The idea is similar to how a flat rock can cross a still pond. Skip entries offer several benefits, including a wider range of splashdown targets.
The Orion heat shield is designed to ablate or char during re-entry when the spacecraft enters Earth's atmosphere at speeds greater than 25,000 mph. But the purpose of the burnished material is to stay in place, providing a layer of insulation. During Artemis 1 re-entry, more burned material separated from the heat shield than computer models predicted.
While the unexpected “release” had no effect on the spacecraft—NASA said the astronauts might not have even noticed there was anyone onboard—engineers wanted to make sure they understood the underlying cause so they could reprogram. Update computer models to accurately predict entry effects. across multiple trajectories.
After hundreds of tests and thorough engineering analysis, NASA “has since determined that as the capsule was dipping in and out of the atmosphere as part of a planned skip entry, heat accumulated inside the outer layer of the heat shield ,” Pam Melroy said. Former Shuttle Commander and now Deputy Administrator of NASA.
“The increased heat caused gases to form and become trapped inside the heat shield,” he said. “This caused internal pressure to build up and cause that outer layer to crack and begin to shed unevenly.”
While the same type of heat shield will be used for the Artemis 2 mission in April 2026, the crew will use a modified re-entry trajectory to reduce the type of heating that could damage the Artemis 1 heat shield.
NASA
For the Artemis 3 lunar landing flight, the new mid-2027 target launch date assumes SpaceX's lunar lander, a type of upper stage used by the company. New Super Heavy-Starship RocketCompletes several test flights in Earth orbit, with at least one unpiloted lunar landing.
Newly elected President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced That he was selecting billionaire Jared Isaacman, a space veteran with strong ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, to serve as NASA's next administrator.
During a press conference Thursday, Nelson was asked if he was concerned that the next administration might make major changes to the Artemis program given the development of SpaceX's new Super Heavy-Starship rocket.
“First of all, there is a human-rated spacecraft that is flying and has already flown beyond the Moon, and that is the SLS (Space Launch System) combined with Orion,” Nelson said. “Secondly, it is a partnership. It is a commercial partnership. It is an international partnership.
“I think what's going to happen over time is you'll have several years when we have partners flying with NASA, and then whatever technologies are developed later will dictate what's going to happen with that system. Be the one who is flying.”
He concluded by saying, “I don't think your question raises a concern, although it is a legitimate question, that you're suddenly going to have Starship take over everything.”