Orion Spacecraft

The Artemis II mission, which will return US astronauts to lunar space, has run into problems that have critics demanding NASA remove the crew from the flight for safety reasons. The bigger question is, why do we have astronauts at all?

The release of NASA's latest budget reveals the Orion spacecraft and Lunar Gateway space station are getting the chop. The US$18.8-billion total figure decreases spending by $6 billion, or 24%, as the space agency increases funding for crewed Moon and Mars missions.

After a lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center last Wednesday and a close fly-by of the Moon earlier this week, it had been pretty smooth sailing for NASA’s Artemis I mission so far. Mission control has now experienced a small hiccup, however.

NASA's Artemis 1 deep-space mission reached a major goal today as the uncrewed spacecraft successfully completed its powered flyby of the Moon that brought it within 81 miles (130 km) of the lunar surface.

NASA is pressing ahead with a launch attempt for Artemis I this week, with the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule in need of only minor repairs after being exposed to the forces of Hurricane Nicole out on the pad.

NASA is pressing ahead with its Artemis I mission, putting recent setbacks behind it to schedule another launch attempt. According to the agency, the rocket and spacecraft will be returned to the pad in early November ahead of lift-off later that month.

It's another return to the drawing board for NASA scientists and engineers working on the Artemis I mission, which was due to lift off on Saturday until a hydrogen leak led to a last-minute scrubbing.

NASA has dusted itself off from the cancelled launch of Artemis I earlier this week and set a new date for a second attempt. The announcement comes after a review of data from Monday's efforts, and sets the stage for lift-off this coming Saturday.

NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft exited the vehicle assembly building today after clearing some final tests and checks, en route to the launchpad for a maiden, uncrewed journey around the Moon.

NASA has put a patchy few months behind it to officially conclude the testing campaign for its Space Launch System (SLS) and begin preparations for its maiden flight later this year, all going to plan.

When NASA's Artemis spacecraft lifts off on its uncrewed circumlunar mission this year, it will have its own voice-activated Alexa digital assistant and Webex video conference technology aboard installed in a Lockheed Martin demo pack called Callisto.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced today that the next US crewed Moon landing mission has been pushed back from 2024 to 2025 due to COVID-19, lawsuits, and budget shortfalls, but the overall plan for 10 landings remains intact.