New launch date for Artemis II
The crew of Artemis II includes Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen (right), who will be the first Canadian to fly around the Moon. (Credit: NASA.)
NASA has announced updates to upcoming Artemis missions, including schedule changes for Artemis II and Artemis III, to allow teams to work through challenges associated with first-time developments, operations, and integration. Ensuring crew safety is the primary driver for these schedule changes.
- NASA now targets for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission, which will see CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen become the first Canadian to fly around the Moon. Jeremy and Jenni Gibbons, Canada's backup for Artemis II, continue to train and will be ready whenever required.
- Artemis III, which is planned to land the first astronauts near the lunar south pole, will launch in .
- Artemis IV, the first mission to the Lunar Gateway, remains on track for .
NASA's testing to qualify components to keep the crew safe and ensure mission success has uncovered issues that require additional time to resolve. Teams are troubleshooting a battery issue and addressing challenges with a circuitry component responsible for air ventilation and temperature control.
NASA's investigation into the unexpected loss of char layer pieces from the Orion spacecraft's heat shield during Artemis I is expected to conclude this spring. Teams have taken a methodical approach to understand the issue, including extensive sampling of the heat shield, testing, and review of data from sensors and imagery.
With Artemis, NASA and its partners, including the CSA, will explore more of the Moon than ever before, learn how to live and work away from home, and prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
Prepared with material courtesy of NASA.