(Washington) The return of humans to the Moon as part of the American Artemis program has been delayed from 2024 to 2025 “at the earliest,” NASA boss Bill Nelson announced on Tuesday.
NASA was awaiting the resolution of a legal dispute over the development of a moon landing gear before announcing a new schedule. “We’ve wasted almost seven months in litigation, and that probably pushed back the first humans landing until 2025 at the earliest,” Bill Nelson said at a press conference.
“There are other reasons,” he added.
The date of 2024 had been set by the administration of President Donald Trump, but was not “technically feasible,” said Bill Nelson.
He also criticized the lack of funds allocated by Congress in recent years for the development of the moon lander.
He also announced that the Artemis 2 mission, which will be the first in the program with astronauts on board, but which will not land on the Moon, now had “a potential take-off date in May 2024”.
This second mission, which was previously announced for 2023, “will go further than any human has ever been. Probably nearly 65,000 km beyond the Moon and then return to Earth, ”said Bill Nelson.
Artemis 1, the first test mission to the Moon – without a crew – is still scheduled for February 2022, as recently announced.