US Sees Getting People to Mars As Horizon Goal, ‘Then Beyond’ - NASA
© Sputnik / Maksim Blinov
/ Subscribe
COLORADO SPRINGS (Sputnik) - Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Cathy Koerner said on Thursday that sending people to the "Moon, Mars, and beyond" is the roadmap for NASA to venture beyond Earth.
“Ultimately, what we are trying to do is create a blueprint for exploration beyond Earth,” Koerner shared. “So, first to the Moon, and then to Mars, and then beyond.”
In January, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that the space agency has delayed the first US manned mission to the Moon in more than half a century until September 2026 "to work through the challenges" of developing and integrating the spacecraft systems in the Artemis program.
NASA officials explained that it delayed both its planned Artemis II mission to fly around the Moon and back and subsequent Artemis III manned landing at the lunar South Pole to give time to deal with unanticipated problems.
These involved the development of new spacesuits, unanticipated detachment of material from the reentry heat shield on the unmanned Artemis I mission last year, and failures with the Orion spacecraft life support system and new abort ejection mechanism for its astronauts.
