In August last year, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin said that the landing of astronauts on the Moon in 2024 is not possible due, in particular, to delays in the development of spacesuits
WASHINGTON, February 2. /tass/. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is postponing the planned March flight of the Orion spacecraft around the Moon as part of the Artemis lunar program to April-May 2022. This was announced on Wednesday during a conference call by the representative of the department Mike Bolger.
"The window in April will be open from the 8th to the 23rd, in May - from the 7th to the 21st," he said. According to him, it is difficult to determine a more precise date yet. The transfer is due to the fact that specialists need to carry out additional preparation of the spacecraft for flight. "We will launch the ship when we are ready for sure," the NASA representative stressed.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States announced in the spring of 2019 that the program of landing astronauts on the Moon, called Artemis, includes three stages. The first is the launch into space of the Orion spacecraft using the new Space Launch System launch vehicle, which in unpiloted mode will make several orbits around the Moon and return to Earth. The second - a flyby of the Earth's natural satellite already with a crew on board - is scheduled for 2023. At the third stage, NASA expects to deliver astronauts to the Moon in 2024, and then send them to Mars in the mid-2030s.
In August last year, NASA Inspector General Paul Martin reported that the landing of astronauts on the Moon in 2024 is not possible due, in particular, to delays in the development of spacesuits.