Technical problems

NASA postpones manned moon landing once again

Technical problems, including with the Orion capsule's heat shield (pictured), meant that the Artemis 3 mission was postponed again.(Bild: NASA)

NASA's planned space mission "Artemis 3" has been postponed once again. The manned moon landing will not take place until "mid-2027" instead of 2026, the US space agency announced on Thursday.

Technical problems, including with the space capsule's heat shield, were cited as the reason for the postponement. "Artemis" 3 is the first mission in more than half a century to take humans to the moon again, including a woman for the first time.

Mission planned for 2025
"The safety of our astronauts always comes first in our decisions. We don't fly until we're ready," NASA chief Bill Nelson told journalists. The mission was originally planned for 2025 and had already been postponed by a year to 2026 earlier this year.

"Artemis 2" also postponed
The preparatory mission "Artemis 2" has also already been postponed by one year to September 2025. In this mission, the astronauts are to orbit the moon in an "Orion" capsule without landing on it.

Problems with the capsule's heat shield
The preparatory mission "Artemis 1" took place at the end of 2022 after several postponements. An unmanned "Orion" capsule orbited the moon. However, there were technical problems, including with the space capsule's heat shield.