Back in September of last year, NASA provided us with the last major update for the Artemis Moon exploration program. As usual with everything NASA does lately, it was an ambitious plan, one that aimed to put human boots on the Moon once more in 2024. Well, that’s not happening.
This week, the space agency released new updates on the program, now saying that the earliest we’re to expect Americans on the Moon is 2025.
The announcement being made at this time may or may not be coincidental. Last week, the United States Court of Federal Claims put an end to Jeff Bezos’ bickering over rival Elon Musk winning the contract for the lunar lander. In fact, this is one of the main reasons NASA Administrator Bill Nelson behind the delay.
“Returning to the Moon as quickly and safely as possible is an agency priority. However, with the recent lawsuit and other factors, the first human landing under Artemis is likely no earlier than 2025,” he said.
To be fair to Bezos though, there are a lot more factors at play here than just the lawsuit between Blue Origin and SpaceX, even if it lasted for seven months, during which time no actual work was done on the lander. There were, according to the official, first-time development challenges, the lack of funds for the lander, the health crisis, and an unrealistic goal (as in not technically feasible) set by the Trump administration.
This last bit of info is particularly interesting, given how this is the first time NASA had anything to say about the deadline set by Trump. And it’s a peculiar statement, at best, given how back when this goal was announced, the agency was more than eager to say “yes, boss, of course we can do it.”
Granted, back then, NASA was also chasing a $21 billion budget, so we kind of get how it was all happy to please and agree with what it was told.
As per the space agency, the delay of the lunar landing should not affect the other planned missions to the Moon, including the two set to take place before Artemis III. Full details on the revised Artemis program can be found in the press release section below.
The announcement being made at this time may or may not be coincidental. Last week, the United States Court of Federal Claims put an end to Jeff Bezos’ bickering over rival Elon Musk winning the contract for the lunar lander. In fact, this is one of the main reasons NASA Administrator Bill Nelson behind the delay.
“Returning to the Moon as quickly and safely as possible is an agency priority. However, with the recent lawsuit and other factors, the first human landing under Artemis is likely no earlier than 2025,” he said.
To be fair to Bezos though, there are a lot more factors at play here than just the lawsuit between Blue Origin and SpaceX, even if it lasted for seven months, during which time no actual work was done on the lander. There were, according to the official, first-time development challenges, the lack of funds for the lander, the health crisis, and an unrealistic goal (as in not technically feasible) set by the Trump administration.
This last bit of info is particularly interesting, given how this is the first time NASA had anything to say about the deadline set by Trump. And it’s a peculiar statement, at best, given how back when this goal was announced, the agency was more than eager to say “yes, boss, of course we can do it.”
Granted, back then, NASA was also chasing a $21 billion budget, so we kind of get how it was all happy to please and agree with what it was told.
As per the space agency, the delay of the lunar landing should not affect the other planned missions to the Moon, including the two set to take place before Artemis III. Full details on the revised Artemis program can be found in the press release section below.