NASA has delayed its human-crewed Moon landing mission for the Artemis program and is now targeting a 2025 schedule for the moonshot, pushing it a year ahead of the 2024 timeline for many reasons. As part of the Artemis program, the space agency aims to bring humanity back to the lunar surface, with one of the goals being putting the first woman on the moon. The plans also involve building an Artemis Base Camp on the Moon and the Gateway spaceship that will remain in lunar orbit for over a decade, making it more convenient for robots and astronauts to accomplish scientific and exploration goals. 

Ahead of the mission, NASA has been developing the Orion spacecraft for the lunar journey, while the multi-billion dollar Space Launch System rocket will kickstart the lunar odyssey. In addition, the agency recently announced plans of sending a fleet of tiny robotic rovers to the moon to explore its surface, especially the lava tubes. But things haven't been going smoothly, with the pandemic exacerbating the problems and a long-drawn-out lawsuit that further slowed down the development trajectory for the planned missions.

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NASA has now officially confirmed that the crewed lunar landing mission has been pushed to at least 2025. Industry experts have been speculating for a while following the sudden announcement about a 2024 mission target made in 2019 under former President Donald Trump. "Returning to the Moon as quickly and safely as possible is an agency priority. However, with the recent lawsuit and other factors, the first human landing under Artemis is likely no earlier than 2025," NASA Bill Nelson was NASA selected SpaceX as a partner for the Artemis mission, but the legal challenge was dismissed by a federal court earlier this month.

A Delay Many Saw Coming For Afar

The agency blamed the delay on a combination of factors such as funding constraints, first-time development challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic, a lawsuit that halted the ongoing work with SpaceX and a technically non-feasible goal of putting mankind back on the lunar surface in 2024. The Artemis program will be executed in multiple stages. Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight around the Moon to test the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft scheduled for February next year. The Artemis II mission will take a crew of astronauts on a journey around the Moon in 2024, originally slated to happen in 2023. And finally, the Artemis III phase will take a team to the lunar surface for the first time after the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. 

However, the agency assures that the delayed schedule for Artemis flight missions will not affect further missions or other development activities such as the Gateway orbit output. NASA recently announced plans of an 'internet' network for the Moon and the Artemis missions, to tackle issues such as communication and disruption delays in space. 

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Sources: NASA