NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon, has faced further delays.

A planned moon landing in 2026 will now occur no earlier than mid-2027, and a mission to fly astronauts around the moon, originally scheduled for 2025, is now set for April 2026.

These delays are partly due to issues with the Orion crew capsule’s heat shield, which experienced unexpected damage during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022.

NASA has identified the cause and plans to modify the spacecraft’s trajectory to address the problem, CNN has reported.

These delays push the timeline for the first crewed lunar landing closer to the original 2028 target.

Written by B.C. Begley