With Elon Musk’s SpaceX programme launching rockets into space every few days, it seems like our forays into our solar system are progressing at a rapid rate.
And given he’s even planning to land on Mars in the not too distant future, it’s easy to start wondering if national space agencies like NASA can even come close to keeping up.
But space enthusiasts and scientists alike were excited by NASA’s plans to send astronauts back to the moon in the next couple of years – shockingly, mankind hasn’t set foot there in over fifty years.
But recently there has been a blow to the project, with NASA chief Bill Nelson announcing in a December press conference that the Artemis II misson will not land astronauts on the Moon again until at least 2027, a whole extra year to wait.
Why the delay?
Well, as Nelson explained, it was to ensure the success of the mission and the safety of all the people involved:
“The safety of our astronauts is our North Star. We do not fly until we are ready. We need to do the next test flight, and we need to do it right. And that’s how the Artemis programme proceeds.”
The problem resides in a malfunction on the Orion capsule that will carry astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen to the Moon.
Unfortunately, when it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on its last test flight, the capsule’s heat shield was extremely damaged with extensive burning, cracks and missing parts.
In the time since, NASA’s expert engineers have worked tirelessly on understanding the damage to the shield, and designing a new roadmap for re-entry, so that the capsule re-enters our atmosphere at a slightly different angle. It is predicted that this will help prevent the issue from occurring when the astronauts are on board.
Understandably, this is a very technical process, and it is one that can’t be rushed, as Nelson explained:
“The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do. We have made significant progress on the Artemis campaign over the past four years, and I’m proud of the work our teams have done to prepare us for this next step forward in exploration as we look to learn more about Orion’s life support systems to sustain crew operations during Artemis II. We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds.”
And though delays can be frustrating, they are imperative to safeguarding both the astronauts involved, and the billions of US and international cash that goes into building spacecraft. Despite how it may look, it is a positive step forward for space exploration, as Catherine Koerner from NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate noted at the conference:
“Throughout our process to investigate the heat shield phenomenon and determine a forward path, we’ve stayed true to NASA’s core values; safety and data-driven analysis remained at the forefront. The updates to our mission plans are a positive step toward ensuring we can safely accomplish our objectives at the Moon and develop the technologies and capabilities needed for crewed Mars missions.”
However, as one of the world’s leading authorities on space, NASA is in a race with some of its competitors – namely SpaceX and the Chinese Space Agency.
Yes, that’s right – just like in the 1950s, another space race is underway.
This is because the CSA are intending to put their astronauts on the moon at the beginning of the next decade – but US space fans can be reassured that NASA’s 2027 target is still three years earlier than China’s plans for 2030.
Though there is a little delay, most of us will see man on the Moon in our lifetimes – and what’s more, we’ll see the first woman and person of color there too.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?
