Spaceflight

Artemis 2 and 3 moon missions delayed, NASA says

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Kelly Kizer Whitt

and

Deborah Byrd

and

December 5, 2024

Artemis: Four astronauts in orange spacesuits without helmets. — **Still waiting …** Artemis 2 was scheduled to carry astronauts *around* the moon no earlier than September 2025. The four Artemis 2 astronauts are Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Canadian Jeremy Hansen. On December 3, 2024, NASA announced the delay of the Artemis 2 and 3 missions. Image via NASA.

There’s big news on the Artemis front. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a news conference on Thursday (December 5, 2024) that the next two planned moon missions will be pushed back. Artemis 2 had a launch date of no earlier than September 2025. It has been delayed until at least April 2026. Artemis 3 – which will be the first mission to return humans to the moon since the Apollo missions of the 1960s and ’70s – was slated for September 2026. It has been delayed until mid-2027. According to Reuters:

The delay came after NASA concluded an examination of the Orion crew capsule, made by Lockheed Martin, and its heat shield, which had malfunctioned during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere during a 2022 flight.

Prior to this announcement, NASA’s Artemis blog had been reporting steady progress on preparations for the flight of four astronauts during Artemis 2. The last NASA Artemis blog entry was November 20, 2024.

Exciting news, EarthSky family! The 2025 Lunar Calendar is for sale now.

Back in July, the Artemis 2 moon rocket core (orange, lying horizontally), could be seen in front of NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Scientists and engineers had been at work inside the VAB through the late summer and fall, preparing for Artemis 2’s September 2025 launch. Image via Greg Diesel Walck for EarthSky.

Why the delay?

NPR reported:

The news of the delay comes after a lengthy investigation into issues related to the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield that were uncovered during an uncrewed test mission in late 2022. After the capsule returned to Earth, engineers uncovered charred bits of the heat shield – tasked with protecting the crew from temperatures of nearly 5,000 degree Fahrenheit during re-entry – had broken off unexpectedly.

They quoted NASA administrator Bill Nelson as saying at Thursday’s press conference that the additional months will give teams of scientists and engineers the needed …

… time to make sure that the Orion capsule is ready to safely deliver our astronauts to deep space and back to Earth.

When will Artemis reach the moon?

NASA established the Artemis program during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office. The goal is to return astronauts (including the first woman and first person of color) to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The program is in some sense a stepping stone mission. Ultimate goals include a lunar base and human missions to Mars.

Artemis 1 successfully completed its mission in 2022 with an uncrewed test flight that orbited the moon. Artemis 2 is to be the first crewed mission to orbit the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis 3 is to return humans to the lunar surface.

And Artemis 4, another mission to take humans to the moon, was supposed to follow no earlier than September 2028. Of the four missions, Artemis 4 is the most ambitious. Its goals include:

Multiple launches and spacecraft dockings in lunar orbit.
Delivering an International Habitation (I-Hab) module to the Gateway space station in lunar orbit.
Landing two astronauts on the moon, where they will spend a week collecting samples, conducting science experiments, rover operations, and moon walks.

A spacecraft in the foreground, and the moon in the background. — Here’s NASA’s uncrewed Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft capturing a selfie as it flew near the moon in November 2022. Image via NASA.

The astronauts who will circle the moon with Artemis

The four Artemis 2 astronauts have already been chosen and were announced on April 3, 2023. They are Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Canadian Jeremy Hansen. Learn more about them below.

Here they are. @SenBillNelson announces the #Artemis II crew, the next astronauts to fly around the Moon:@Astro_Christina @Astro_Jeremy @AstroVicGlover @Astro_Reid

We go together. https://t.co/XdUizg2Wye pic.twitter.com/6Yo4I2lKeJ

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

They're going to the Moon! Introducing the #Artemis II astronauts:

Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid), Commander
Victor Glover (@AstroVicGlover), Pilot
Christina Koch (@Astro_Christina), Mission specialist
Jeremy Hanson (@Astro_Jeremy), Mission specialisthttps://t.co/Hy1110MOEi pic.twitter.com/SeETL5iURu

— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) April 3, 2023

Christina Koch

Meet the first member of our #Artemis II Moon crew: mission specialist @Astro_Christina!

Christina Koch visited the @Space_Station in 2019, where she took part in the first all-woman spacewalk. She began her career as an electrical engineer at @NASAGoddard. pic.twitter.com/mi82SayXUm

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Jeremy Hansen

Representing the @csa_asc on #Artemis II to the Moon is @Astro_Jeremy, from London, Ontario.

Jeremy Hansen was a fighter pilot before joining CSA, and currently works with NASA on astronaut training and mission operations. This will be Hansen’s first mission in space. pic.twitter.com/zIVetAQeFE

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Victor Glover

Our #Artemis II pilot is @AstroVicGlover!

Victor Glover is part of our 2013 class of @NASA_Astronauts and was the pilot for NASA’s @SpaceX Crew-1 mission. He’s logged 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft, and will pilot @NASA_Orion around the Moon. pic.twitter.com/P0zJ8pwaeL

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Reid Wiseman

…and rounding out our #Artemis II Moon crew: mission commander @Astro_Reid!

Reid Wiseman lived & worked aboard the @Space_Station as a flight engineer in 2014. He also commanded the undersea research mission NEEMO21, and most recently served as Chief of the @NASA_Astronauts. pic.twitter.com/AincR66wpf

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

The vision of the Artemis program

Ultimately, the Artemis program aims to send the first humans back to the moon by the middle of this decade. When they go, they’ll be aiming for the moon’s south pole, a place that scientists have discovered in recent decades has large amounts of water ice. Water contains oxygen, so processing it will make it possible for future astronauts to stay longer.

Someday, visionaries still hope, we will have a permanent presence on the moon. And we will go to Mars.

Indeed, such dreams are an integral part of humanity’s natural wanderlust in the 21st century. And so future historians might look back at our time – and at the Artemis missions – as the moment humanity took a true giant leap to space, maybe this time for good.

Bottom line: On December 5, 2024, NASA announced a further delay to the Artemis 2 and 3 missions. Artemis 2 is now scheduled for no earlier than April 2026 and Artemis 3 for mid-2027.

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December 5, 2024

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Spaceflight

Kelly Kizer Whitt

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About the Author:

Kelly Kizer Whitt - EarthSky’s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube - writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She's been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children's picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.

Deborah Byrd

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About the Author:

Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky's website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She's the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.