{"id":2583,"date":"2021-11-10T17:12:58","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T17:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news25.org\/?p=2583"},"modified":"2021-11-10T17:13:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T17:13:02","slug":"nasa-delays-astronaut-moon-landing-to-2025-at-earliest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.news25.org\/nasa-delays-astronaut-moon-landing-to-2025-at-earliest\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA delays astronaut moon landing to 2025 at earliest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lack of funds, legal wrangling cause NASA to postpone plans for first astronaut moon landing in more than 50 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States space agency, NASA, has delayed sending astronauts back on the moon until 2025 at the earliest \u2013 jettisoning a deadline set by the administration of former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA had been aiming for 2024 for the first moon landing by astronauts since the Apollo 17 mission made a lunar landing in 1972. The\u00a0aggressive goal, set by the Trump administration, was part of the agency\u2019s Artemis programme, which seeks to use the moon landing and creation of a long-term colony as a stepping stone for a far more ambitious Mars mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said on Tuesday that the US Congress did not provide enough money to develop a landing system for the Artemis programme and that more money was also needed for the development of the Orion capsule, the spacecraft that would make the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson also said that legal wrangling has also slowed the plans. A legal challenge by Jeff Bezos\u2019s rocket company, Blue Origin, that challenged the US government\u2019s\u00a0decision\u00a0to award Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX to build its Starship lunar landing system for the initiative delayed development for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawsuit was\u00a0rejected\u00a0by a judge last Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n