NASA has postponed two manned missions to the Moon

The American space agency NASA has postponed two manned missions to the Moon for at least an hour. In 2024, the ship with astronauts was supposed to fly around the satellite, and in 2025 it was planned to land on its surface.

The super-heavy launch vehicle “Starship” was supposed to send the astronauts to the Moon. However, its developer SpaceX conducted only two test flights of the rocket, both of which ended in an explosion.

For a manned flight to the moon as part of the “Artemis III” mission, at least eleven rocket launches will be needed: at least ten will be used to deliver fuel for the eleventh to the Earth’s orbit before the flight to the satellite.

Difficulties also arose with the development of spacesuits for astronauts ordered from the private Axiom Space. In addition, problems were found in the Lockheed Martin manned Orion spacecraft, on which astronauts must fly.

During the return to Earth after the test flight in 2022, the ship lost several parts of the thermal insulation. Tests of the second capsule revealed flaws in the electronics of the life support system and batteries, the Associated Press notes.

It is not the first time that the program to return to the moon has been postponed; over the last decade, its cost has increased by billions of dollars. According to forecasts of government auditors, at least 93 billion dollars will be spent on it by 2025.

Commenting on the next delay, the deputy head of NASA, Amit Kshatriya, admitted that it would also be difficult for the agency to meet the new deadlines. In November, the US Government Accountability Office reported that NASA probably plans to land a man on the moon no earlier than 2027.

The last time a man visited the Moon was in 1972. In addition to the United States, Russia and China announced their plans to send astronauts to the satellite.