NASA’s ambition is to return humans to the Moon with at least a year’s delay. The US space agency expects a moon landing from 2025 at the earliest.
With this said, NASA will certainly not meet the 2024 deadline set under former US President Trump. Call Bill Nelson, CEO of NASA Press release Including the recent legal controversy over a yet-to-be-built lunar lander as the reason for the delay.
NASA decided earlier this year that SpaceX, the company of billionaire Elon Musk, could build this lander. Musk rival Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin was also eager to win a multibillion-dollar order for the lander and went to court over NASA’s decision. Nelson said the case, which Blue Origin lost last week, delayed the project by at least seven months.
NASA wants more money
According to Nelson, it also does not help that the US Congress did not provide sufficient funds for the so-called Artemis Project. It requires a larger “significant” structural budget to be able to carry out at least ten planned lunar landings.
Nelson warned that China’s ambitious space program could overtake the United States when it comes to lunar ambitions.
Before landing on the moon in 2025, NASA first wants to send another manned space flight about 40,000 miles from the moon. Astronauts have never traveled this far in space. Moon missions serve as a springboard for eventually manned missions to Mars.
The last time NASA put humans on the Moon was in 1972, with the Apollo 17 mission. In total, twelve men walked on the Moon. With a planned return, women will also have to step on the moon for the first time.
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