NASA delays Artemis mission featuring Canadian astronaut to 2026

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This article was published 05/12/2024 (331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL – Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen’s trip to the moon has been delayed once again.

NASA announced Thursday that the next mission in the Artemis program – sending four astronauts around the moon and back – is now targeted for April 2026 at the earliest, after previously being delayed until September 2025.

The agency says the investigation into heat shield damage from the capsule’s initial test flight two years ago took time, and other spacecraft improvements are still needed.

NASA has also bumped the third Artemis mission — a moon landing by two other astronauts — from 2026 to at least 2027.

Hansen, 48, is the only Canadian chosen to fly on Artemis II, whose crew was named in April 2023 as part of NASA’s first mission to put astronauts on the moon since the Apollo moon missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Canadian Space Agency says it has “full confidence” that the delay is guided by NASA’s commitment to safety.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.

– With files from The Associated Press