Spaceflight Now

NASA alters path for returning humans to the Moon

Pointing to issues stemming from a historically low flight rate with the Artemis Program, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced on Friday, February 27, that the agency is pivoting on how it will return humans to the lunar surface. Instead of going from the Artemis 2 mission around the Moon directly to a Moon landing with Artemis 3, NASA will instead make Artemis 3 a low Earth orbit mission, akin to the Apollo 9 mission in March 1969. The agency also has a big, new goal of aiming for two crewed lunar landing attempts in 2028. On top of that, Isaacman says a change towards standardizing the Space Launch System rocket is necessary for NASA to be able to increase its flight rate to an annual cadence or potentially even faster than that. Reporting and editing: Will Robinson-Smith, Spaceflight Now Video shot by: Adam Bernstein, John Pisani, Will Robinson-Smith, Spaceflight Now Additional video courtesy: • Axiom Space • Blue Origin • Lockheed Martin • NASA • SpaceX This coverage is made possible by the support of our members. Join this channel to help us expand our coverage and get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoLdERT4-TJ82PJOHSrsZLQ/join