NASA Updates Human Moon Mission Plans

HOUSTON–In an Oct. 23 update of NASA’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon’s surface by the end of 2028, agency Administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged a range of challenges.

Isaacman also stressed that NASA’s workforce is striving to meet the milestones in a timely manner that also addresses the risks to ensure it can proceed with establishing a Moon Base to support a sustainable human lunar presence.

Among the milestones are efforts to overcome supply chain issues to keep the four-astronaut Artemis III mission on track for 2027 to demonstrate the rendezvous and docking operations with the inaugural lunar Human Landing System (HLS) versions, Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander and SpaceX’s Starship lander.

“These are not trivial matters to solve, and no amount of my enthusiasm or schedule pressure changes the laws of physics. What we are undertaking is ambitious. It’s extraordinarily difficult, and years of decisions, both within and beyond the walls of this agency, have cost us time and resources that we never had to spare,” Isaacman said to open the briefing, hosted by Kennedy Space Center.

The briefing was characterized as an “Acceleration” event in which Isaacman emphasized that Artemis is intended to respect the risk taking addressed in the Apollo era but achieve much more.

“But we are reinvigorating, and the extraordinary vehicles our industry partners are building are worth every bit of that effort,” Isaacman stressed. “This will not be a repeat of the flags and footprints.”

The Artemis III mission Space Launch System rocket’s core stage and its two solid rocket boosters are currently in the process of coming together in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy to enable an initial rollout to the launchpad for tanking tests by year’s end. This would ensure that the hydrogen propellant leaks that delayed the Artemis II launch earlier this year have been overcome.

NASA is still aiming for a 2027 Artemis III launch, though it has been noted that the agency may face a 90-day delay at this point due to supply chain concerns.

“We are fighting daily to increase the pace and value of our mission,” Jeremy Pastons, NASA’s Artemis program manager, told the briefing. “We are strengthening the spaceflight workforce. We are rebuilding core competencies and we are onboarding the key talent we need in order to achieve these goals.”

Described by mission planners as one of the most complex missions NASA has attempted, Artemis III is baselined for 14 days but could last as long as 17 days.

With the Artemis III mission on the pad and its four NASA and European Space Agency crewmembers prepared to launch, a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is to lift off with a test version of the Blue Moon lunar lander into low Earth orbit, prepared to stay for up to a month.

Once the Blue Moon HLS has been checked out, the Artemis III mission is to launch into Earth orbit for a sequence of maneuvers that lead to a rendezvous and docking with the Blue Moon on day three of the mission. Over the next two days, the Artemis III crew will board Blue Moon to check out the Environmental Control and Life Support System, avionics and software, fluid tanks, values and thrusters, the power-generating solar arrays, thermal control and radiator systems and the lunar crew module’s primary structure.

On day six of the Artemis III mission, SpaceX is to launch its Starship version of an HLS. The Artemis III crew will depart the Blue Moon lander to rendezvous and dock with Starship on day eight of the mission for a 2-hr. encounter that is not to include a crew entry.

After departing Starship, Artemis III commander Randy Bresnik, of NASA; pilot Luca Parmitano, of the European Space Agency; and NASA mission specialists Andre Douglas and Frank Rubio will spend the remainder of their mission conducting scientific and human health-related research, checking out their crew survival suits and conducting Sun and Earth observations.

“Everything we do on Artemis III is designed to reduce risk on our future lunar lander missions,” Parsons said.

Other preparations for the Artemis IV Moon landing include uncrewed test launches of the Blue Moon and Starliner and evaluation of their abilities to transfer propellant and land at the lunar south pole. These activities are to lead to a decision by NASA on which of the landers will transport the Artemis IV astronauts to and from the Moon’s Surface.

The agency plans to establish its international and commercially planned Moon Base over three phases. Phase 1, lasting until 2029, is to learn more about the lunar south pole with robotic and crew missions. Phase 2, lasting into 2032, is to establish an initial human presence. Phase 3 is to establish a sustained human presence to prepare for human expeditions to Mars.