Moon landing might not be part of upcoming Artemis 3 mission - NASA
'We may end up flying a different mission' if SpaceX landing system isn't ready, says NASA official
NASA said on Tuesday that a Moon landing might not be part of its Artemis 3 mission to the Moon in 2025.
“We may end up flying a different mission” if important facets, including the contracted SpaceX landing mechanism, are not ready, said NASA’s Jim Free, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.
The voyage is scheduled for December 2025, but the explosion of SpaceX’s Starship prototype during a test in April puts doubt that the company will be ready to land humans on the lunar surface.
The mission has been hailed as mankind’s return to placing boots back on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. The diverse crew would include the first woman and Black man to set foot on the Moon.
The unmanned probe Artemis 1 circled the Moon in 2022, while Artemis 2 is scheduled to do the same with a crew.
The Artemis 3 mission is aimed for the southern pole, where astronauts will collect samples and test the viability of using ice as rocket fuel.