CAPE CANAVERAL: Nasa on Friday said it would revise its Artemis lunar programme, which has suffered multiple delays in recent years, to ensure Americans can return to the Moon's surface by 2028.
Nasa will add missions between this spring's Artemis 2 and the ultimate moonwalk, a strategical revision Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman told a briefing would allow for improved launch "muscle memory".
The shift in plans comes as Artemis 2, which will see the first flyby of the Moon in more than half-a-century, has been plagued with delays and technical difficulties.
Nasa on Wednesday was rolling its towering Moon rocket back to its hangar for repairs, after windows for liftoff were pushed back over technical issues.
The US space agency said it would roll its 322-foot SLS rocket off the launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida after teams detected issues with helium flow.
The decision means further delays for the highly anticipated Artemis 2 mission, which will last approximately 10 days and see three Americans and one Canadian fly around Earth's satellite.
The journey would be a huge step towards Americans once again setting foot on the lunar surface, a goal announced by President Donald Trump in his first term.
But due to the technical investigations and repairs needed, the flyby is off until at least April, Nasa Administrator Jared Isaacman said over the weekend.
Nasa said the rocket and spacecraft's journey back to the Vehicle Assembly Building, which is several miles away from the launchpad, is expected to take around 12 hours. — AFP
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