The landing of American astronauts on the lunar surface is planned for 2028, NASA said on Friday, announcing a major reorganization of its lunar program “Artemis“.
It now includes an additional mission planned for 2027, which will test procedures and technologies for docking the Orion spacecraft with landers in Earth orbit before attempting to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
NASA experts have concluded that additional in-depth testing is needed before landing astronauts on the The Moon.
The first test launch of the SLS launch vehicle with the Orion spacecraft in unmanned mode as part of the "Artemis I" mission was carried out in November 2022.
As part of the "Artemis II" mission, planned for April, the Orion spacecraft will make one trip around the Moon.
The ship, with a crew of three American and one Canadian astronauts, must pass a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers from its surface and return to Earth by landing in the Pacific Ocean.