NASA said Friday it’s revamping its Artemis moon exploration program to make it more like the fast-paced Apollo program half a century ago, adding an extra practice flight before attempting a high-risk lunar landing with a crew in two years.The overhaul in the flight lineup came just two days after NASA’s new moon rocket returned to its hangar for more repairs, and a safety panel warned the space agency to scale back its overly ambitious goals for humanity’s first lunar landing since 1972.Artemis II, a lunar fly-around by four astronauts, is off until at least April because of rocket problems.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe follow-up mission, Artemis III, had been targeting a landing near the moon’s south pole by another pair of astronauts in about three years. But with long gaps between flights and concern growing over the readiness of a lunar lander and moonwalking suits, NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman announced that mission would instead focus on launching a lunar lander into orbit around Earth in 2027 for docking practice by astronauts flying in an Orion capsule.The new plan calls for a moon landing — potentially even two moon landings — by astronauts in 2028.“Everybody agrees. This is the only way forward,” Isaacman said.The hydrogen fuel leaks and helium flow problems that struck the Space Launch System rocket on the pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center earlier this month had also plagued the first Artemis test flight without a crew in 2022.AdvertisementAdvertisementAnother three-year gap was looming between Artemis II and the moon landing by astronauts as originally envisioned, Isaacman said.Isaacman stressed that “it should be incredibly obvious” that three years between flights is unacceptable. He’d like to get it down to one year or even less.Isaacman, a tech billionaire who bought his own trips to orbit and performed the world’s first …
