Heat Shields Delay again Artemis 2 Mission

Kennedy Space Center, FL. – In a not so surprise, it has been announced again another delay in the next flight of the SLS/Artemis 2 mission. After the first flight, it became aware of an issue with the Orion heat shield and tests are still ongoing to help correct this issue before the next flight that will take four astronauts on a 10 day trip around the Moon and back to Earth. This flight had been planned for late 2025 and this announcement slips this flight to no earlier than April of 2026. This will also slip Artemis 3 to no earlier than mid 2027.

Artemis II Crew: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch (NASA), and Jeremy Hansen (CSA). Photo Credit: Michael Howard / We Report Space

In a statement from NASA: “Throughout our process to investigate the heat shield phenomenon and determine a forward path, we’ve stayed true to NASA’s core values; safety and data-driven analysis remained at the forefront,” said Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The updates to our mission plans are a positive step toward ensuring we can safely accomplish our objectives at the Moon and develop the technologies and capabilities needed for crewed Mars missions.”

In a continuing statement from the NASA: “The Artemis campaign is the most daring, technically challenging, collaborative, international endeavor humanity has ever set out to do,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We have made significant progress on the Artemis campaign over the past four years, and I’m proud of the work our teams have done to prepare us for this next step forward in exploration as we look to learn more about Orion’s life support systems to sustain crew operations during Artemis II. We need to get this next test flight right. That’s how the Artemis campaign succeeds.”

While these delays are stacking up, the massive SLS rocket is also being prepared to be stacked and integrated in the VAB located at the Kennedy Space Center ahead of next year’s launch attempt. This integration process began in November according to NASA.

Meanwhile, Boots on the Moon by 2024 has long come and gone and now the earliest it seems to have Astronauts on the Moon seems to slip further and further into the future. In 2029, it will have been 60 years since Apollo 11 and the last boots on the Moon were with Apollo 17 back in December of 1972 just over half a century ago. While the days tick by each day, the Moon still shines in the night sky still creating wonderment and dreams and we wonder when that next footprint will be made in the Lunar soil.

Story by: Michael Howard Images by: Michael Howard and Graham Smith NASA image credit: NASA