NASA’s new administrator has only been on the job a few months, but he’s already making major changes to the agency’s moon program.
HOUSTON — NASA’s new administrator is shaking up the agency’s moon program, announcing plans to restructure the Artemis mission timeline in an effort to improve safety, cut delays and stay ahead of China in the race back to the lunar surface.
Jared Isaacman, who has been on the job only a few months, wants to overhaul the Artemis program, which has faced a series of setbacks tied to technical issues with the rocket developed for the lunar program.
The changes would add an extra Artemis flight next year, followed by one and possibly two lunar landing missions in 2028.
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Part of what’s driving the urgency is China, which is also working toward a crewed moon mission. Isaacman says Beijing is not keeping its ambitions a secret.
The Artemis II mission, which would send astronauts on a 10-day trip around the moon, has already faced repeated delays. Isaacman says the restructured approach is meant to get NASA back on track toward its goal of landing Americans on the moon by 2028.
For now, Isaacman says the agency has what it needs to make that happen, with both the funding and the support from Washington behind it.
NASA said Friday it’s revamping its Artemis moon exploration program to make it more like the fast-paced Apollo program half a century ago, adding an extra practice flight before attempting a high-risk lunar landing with a crew in two years.
The overhaul in the flight lineup came just two days after NASA’s new moon rocket returned to its hangar for more repairs, and a safety panel warned the space agency to scale back its overly ambitious goals for humanity’s first lunar landing since 1972.
This story was first reported by KHOU, a TEGNA station based in Houston, Texas.