{"id":1844198,"date":"2026-03-24T16:46:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1844198"},"modified":"2026-03-24T16:46:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T13:46:47","slug":"artemis-ii-humans-fly-to-the-moon-after-more-than-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1844198","title":{"rendered":"Artemis II: Humans fly to the moon after more than 50 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76510586_6.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5B1oZ<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
NASA plans to reorganize its Artemis II moon mission amid delays and concerns about inefficiency and costsImage: Joe Marino\/UPI Photo\/Newscom\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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NASA<\/a> will cancel plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit, instead focusing on the construction of a roughly $20 billion (about \u20ac17.25 billion) base on the moon<\/a>‘s surface over the next seven years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who was sworn in at the US space agency in December, made the announcement at the opening of an all-day event at NASA’s Washington headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He outlined a raft of changes to the agency’s flagship Artemis II moon project, which has encountered a series of setbacks in recent months amid a 21st century race with Russia and China<\/a> to return to the Earth’s satellite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a series of delays<\/a>, NASA repositioned its Space Launch System rocket on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida a few days ago, hoping to launch its first flight orbiting the moon soon, potentially in early April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What did NASA’s Isaacman say about the changes?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The Lunar Gateway station, much of which has already been built\u00a0by contractors Northrop Grumman and Vantor, was meant to be a space station that would orbit the moon. The original plan was for this to serve as the base of operations for astronauts to use landers to shuttle to and from the surface.<\/p>\n

“It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface,” Isaacman told delegates at the event, after criticism of the project as either waseteful or a distraction from other lunar ambitions<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Waxing
The revised plan aims to build on the moon’s surface, not to construct a station orbiting the Earth’s satelliteImage: Tayfun Co\u015fkun\/Anadolu\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Despite some of the very real hardware and schedule challenges, we can repurpose equipment and international partner commitments to support surface and other program objectives,” the 43-year-old entrepreneur with close ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk<\/a> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What rekindled NASA’s interest in the moon?<\/h2>\n

Isaacman said the core target of the Artemis II mission, a return to the moon’s surface by 2028,\u00a0would remain unchanged despite his major shakeup of the details. He said the agency would also shift its flight plans to incorporate a test mission prior to an eventual lunar landing to improve “muscle memory.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rush to return to the satellite first reached by the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 comes as China works on its own moon mission, aiming to land on the orb in 2030. China and Russia have also touted plans to build a nuclear power plant on the orb’s south pole<\/a>, as they aim to develop their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) by 2036.<\/p>\n

\"NASA's
President Trump said early in his second term that the US would ‘lead humanity back to the moon’ and be ‘the first nation to land an astronaut on Mars,’ but the projects are encountering hiccups and competition from ChinaImage: Joe Marino\/UPI Photo\/Newscom\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Returning to the moon is also billed by the US as a stepping stone towards an eventual mission to Mars, long a stated goal of Musk’s.<\/p>\n

Musk has previously said that crewed missions to Mars could become a reality as early as 2030. These claims\u00a0met with considerable skepticism given that uncrewed test flights are still pending and launches are only practical roughly once every two years, when the distance between the two planets is shortest.<\/p>\n

Last month, Musk said that the company’s focus was now on the moon not Mars, touting what he called a “Moon City” within the next decade.<\/p>\n

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Artemis II: Humans fly to the moon after more than 50 years<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Sean Sinico<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

\n

NASA<\/a> will cancel plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit, instead focusing on the construction of a roughly $20 billion (about \u20ac17.25 billion) base on the moon<\/a>‘s surface over the next seven years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who was sworn in at the US space agency in December, made the announcement at the opening of an all-day event at NASA’s Washington headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He outlined a raft of changes to the agency’s flagship Artemis II moon project, which has encountered a series of setbacks in recent months amid a 21st century race with Russia and China<\/a> to return to the Earth’s satellite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a series of delays<\/a>, NASA repositioned its Space Launch System rocket on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida a few days ago, hoping to launch its first flight orbiting the moon soon, potentially in early April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What did NASA’s Isaacman say about the changes?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The Lunar Gateway station, much of which has already been built\u00a0by contractors Northrop Grumman and Vantor, was meant to be a space station that would orbit the moon. The original plan was for this to serve as the base of operations for astronauts to use landers to shuttle to and from the surface.<\/p>\n

“It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface,” Isaacman told delegates at the event, after criticism of the project as either waseteful or a distraction from other lunar ambitions<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Waxing
The revised plan aims to build on the moon’s surface, not to construct a station orbiting the Earth’s satelliteImage: Tayfun Co\u015fkun\/Anadolu\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Despite some of the very real hardware and schedule challenges, we can repurpose equipment and international partner commitments to support surface and other program objectives,” the 43-year-old entrepreneur with close ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk<\/a> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What rekindled NASA’s interest in the moon?<\/h2>\n

Isaacman said the core target of the Artemis II mission, a return to the moon’s surface by 2028,\u00a0would remain unchanged despite his major shakeup of the details. He said the agency would also shift its flight plans to incorporate a test mission prior to an eventual lunar landing to improve “muscle memory.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rush to return to the satellite first reached by the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 comes as China works on its own moon mission, aiming to land on the orb in 2030. China and Russia have also touted plans to build a nuclear power plant on the orb’s south pole<\/a>, as they aim to develop their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) by 2036.<\/p>\n

\"NASA's
President Trump said early in his second term that the US would ‘lead humanity back to the moon’ and be ‘the first nation to land an astronaut on Mars,’ but the projects are encountering hiccups and competition from ChinaImage: Joe Marino\/UPI Photo\/Newscom\/picture alliance<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Returning to the moon is also billed by the US as a stepping stone towards an eventual mission to Mars, long a stated goal of Musk’s.<\/p>\n

Musk has previously said that crewed missions to Mars could become a reality as early as 2030. These claims\u00a0met with considerable skepticism given that uncrewed test flights are still pending and launches are only practical roughly once every two years, when the distance between the two planets is shortest.<\/p>\n

Last month, Musk said that the company’s focus was now on the moon not Mars, touting what he called a “Moon City” within the next decade.<\/p>\n

\n

Artemis II: Humans fly to the moon after more than 50 years<\/h2>\n

Edited by: Sean Sinico<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

NASA<\/a> will cancel plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit, instead focusing on the construction of a roughly $20 billion (about \u20ac17.25 billion) base on the moon<\/a>‘s surface over the next seven years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who was sworn in at the US space agency in December, made the announcement at the opening of an all-day event at NASA’s Washington headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He outlined a raft of changes to the agency’s flagship Artemis II moon project, which has encountered a series of setbacks in recent months amid a 21st century race with Russia and China<\/a> to return to the Earth’s satellite.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a series of delays<\/a>, NASA repositioned its Space Launch System rocket on the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida a few days ago, hoping to launch its first flight orbiting the moon soon, potentially in early April<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Lunar Gateway station, much of which has already been built\u00a0by contractors Northrop Grumman and Vantor, was meant to be a space station that would orbit the moon. The original plan was for this to serve as the base of operations for astronauts to use landers to shuttle to and from the surface.<\/p>\n

“It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface,” Isaacman told delegates at the event, after criticism of the project as either waseteful or a distraction from other lunar ambitions<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Despite some of the very real hardware and schedule challenges, we can repurpose equipment and international partner commitments to support surface and other program objectives,” the 43-year-old entrepreneur with close ties to SpaceX founder Elon Musk<\/a> said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Isaacman said the core target of the Artemis II mission, a return to the moon’s surface by 2028,\u00a0would remain unchanged despite his major shakeup of the details. He said the agency would also shift its flight plans to incorporate a test mission prior to an eventual lunar landing to improve “muscle memory.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The rush to return to the satellite first reached by the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 comes as China works on its own moon mission, aiming to land on the orb in 2030. China and Russia have also touted plans to build a nuclear power plant on the orb’s south pole<\/a>, as they aim to develop their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) by 2036.<\/p>\n

Returning to the moon is also billed by the US as a stepping stone towards an eventual mission to Mars, long a stated goal of Musk’s.<\/p>\n

Musk has previously said that crewed missions to Mars could become a reality as early as 2030. These claims\u00a0met with considerable skepticism given that uncrewed test flights are still pending and launches are only practical roughly once every two years, when the distance between the two planets is shortest.<\/p>\n

Last month, Musk said that the company’s focus was now on the moon not Mars, touting what he called a “Moon City” within the next decade.<\/p>\n

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video<\/a><\/p>\n

Edited by: Sean Sinico<\/em><\/p>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/nasa-plans-moon-base-instead-of-orbital-lunar-station\/a-76510267″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/76510586_6.jpg”] https:\/\/p.dw.com\/p\/5B1oZ NASA plans to reorganize its Artemis II moon mission amid delays and concerns about inefficiency and costsImage: Joe Marino\/UPI Photo\/Newscom\/picture alliance NASA will cancel plans to deploy a space station in lunar orbit, instead focusing on the construction of a roughly $20 billion (about \u20ac17.25 billion) base on the moon‘s surface […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,74],"class_list":["post-1844198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dw-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1844198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1844198\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1844198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1844198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1844198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}