Why Nasa Artemis moon mission is getting delayed know the reason

American space agency NASA has been working on Artemis Mission for many years. Under this, preparations are being made to send humans to the moon once again. In the year 2022, NASA had sent the Orion spacecraft to near the Moon under the Artemis Mission. The spacecraft completed the mission in 25 days. Although the crew was not present in it. It was said that the agency has made initial preparations and soon the process of sending humans to the moon will begin. Now it seems the mission is getting delayed. According to reports, NASA has postponed its first two manned Moon missions to 2026 and 2027. The decision has been taken at a time when America’s rival China is also preparing to send its astronauts to the moon.

According to Space.com report, it is proposed to send three American and one Canadian astronauts in the Artemis 2 mission. They will not land on the moon, they will just circle around it and return. The mission is scheduled to launch in September 2025, but this month NASA announced that it has been postponed to April 2026.

The plan to land astronauts on the Moon will come to fruition in the Artemis 3 mission, but NASA has postponed that too to the end of 2026 or mid-2027.

What is the reason for the delay?

The reason for the delay of Artemis mission is being attributed to the heat shield of Orion spacecraft. It is said that it has a problem, which NASA came to know about in 2022, when the Artemis 1 mission returned to Earth.

What’s the problem with the heat shield?

NASA had said this month that when the Orion capsule was going in and out of the atmosphere under skip entry, heat accumulated inside the outer layer of the heat shield. This created gases which got trapped in the heat shield. This increased the pressure in the shield and caused cracks in the outer layer.

NASA says that it does not want to compromise with the safety of astronauts. Although Orion spacecraft will still be used in the Artemis mission, some other trajectory will be used for reentry. NASA wants to solve this problem completely by delaying the mission.