NASA recently changed its plans for a mission to the moon. But she still hopes that her astronauts will land there by 2028. Now another obstacle appeared – according to the report of the control body, the flight would be associated with risks for the safety of the crew. On Thursday evening, NASA announced that the launch of the Artemis II mission, during which astronauts will fly around the moon, could take place on April 1.
In a report Tuesday, NASA’s Office of the Inspector General warned of serious flaws in crew survivability testing and analyzes for both planned landers: SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS) and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Lander. The authors of this report warned that if there was a disaster, the astronauts would be stranded on the moon. NASA would not be able to save them not only from the surface of the moon, but probably not even from a spacecraft in its orbit.
“Without rescue capabilities for Artemis missions, we will lose crew if the HLS breaks down on the lunar surface or is unable to connect to Orion or the Gateway station in orbit,” the report said.
What does the US plan to conquer the moon look like?
The American mission to the moon is called Artemis, a follow-up to the Apollo program of the 1960s. And not just by name (Artemis was the goddess of the moon and sister of the god Apollo), but also by the goal: to ensure that Americans walk on the surface of the moon. While the program of the last century wanted to prove it only temporarily, now the Americans should return to the moon in the form of a long-term presence.
As part of the return to the Moon program, the Artemis I mission took place in 2022, which was a successful test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft, without a crew. The Artemis II mission with a manned flyby of the Orion ship around the Moon was planned for this February. Due to the leakage of liquid hydrogen during refueling, the launch was postponed for an as-yet-undetermined period, it seems that April at the earliest. The Artemis III mission was originally supposed to land people on the moon, but now NASA has changed the plan – it will now only have the task of testing the connection of the Orion ship with the landing modules in orbit around the Earth.
NASA also announced Thursday that it had completed a flight readiness review and had given the go-ahead for flight preparation. In a week, he wants to transport the Space Launch System rocket with the Orion ship to the launch pad. Starter window will open on Wednesday, April 1st and remain open until Monday, April 6th. The next opportunity to start will then appear on April 30.
Artemis IV will try to land with people in 2028 at the earliest with the above-mentioned ships of the private companies SpaceX and Blue Origin. Slowing down the program is a problem for both NASA and the US, mainly because China is also aiming for a landing by 2030.
How to fix the situation
According to the inspection report, the main problem is that there are many loopholes in NASA’s risk reduction methodology. One of the problems is that NASA tries to test all important systems in conditions as close to real as possible. But it missed a number of opportunities for such testing with the SpaceX and Blue Origin missions.
Another problem is that it is not resolved if and how the crew of the Artemis mission should be able to take control of the lander if necessary.
But according to the report, nothing is lost, there are ways to remedy the unpleasant situation. The Office of the Inspector General suggests that NASA better manage risk analysis programs and establish clear rules for tracking government support to contractors. And definitely, the agency recommends that crew survival analyzes be better developed, which would also include strategies for extending crew survival.
