NASA names next astronauts for Artemis Moon programme:Cancels planned Moon landing, crew to operate slightly farther from Earth; know their mission

NASA has named the crew for its next major lunar programme mission, Artemis III, but the astronauts will no longer land on the Moon as originally planned. The mission was initially designed to become the first crewed Moon landing since the historic Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Under the original plan, two astronauts were expected to land near the Moon’s south pole and spend about a week exploring the lunar surface. Artemis III crew members Mission plan revised In February, NASA revised the Artemis III mission profile, announcing that the flight would remain in low Earth orbit instead of travelling to the Moon. The spacecraft will operate only slightly farther from Earth than the International Space Station and will dock with prototype lunar landers during the mission. What will the Artemis III mission do? Artemis III will launch aboard NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch date has not yet been confirmed. The four astronauts will travel inside the Orion capsule, the same spacecraft used during the Artemis II mission in April 2026. Unlike Artemis II, Orion will not travel around the Moon during Artemis III. Instead, it will remain in low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 290 miles above Earth — roughly the distance between Manchester and Edinburgh and around 40 miles higher than the International Space Station (ISS). There, Orion will rendezvous and dock with prototype lunar landers known as pathfinders. At least one crew member is expected to enter a lander to test its hatches, life-support connections and the new Axiom spacesuits. The Axiom suits are designed and built through a collaboration between Houston-based Axiom Space and Italian fashion house Prada. Axiom developed the engineering systems, including a backup cooling loop that can operate if the primary system fails. Prada designed the inner garment, which distributes chilled water throughout the body during the eight-hour lunar spacewalks planned for the Artemis IV mission. The Artemis III crew will spend slightly longer aboard Orion than the nine days completed by the Artemis II astronauts. Their return journey will also test an upgraded heat shield during the capsule’s high-speed re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The mission was originally intended to be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. However, NASA revised its plans in February 2026. The main reason was that SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander, which is intended to carry astronauts to the Moon’s surface, is not yet ready. In addition, the in-orbit refuelling system required for the mission has never been demonstrated. Rather than delay the programme further, NASA repurposed Artemis III as a crewed docking rehearsal. The mission will allow astronauts to test docking procedures and evaluate the spacesuits and landers before an actual lunar landing takes place. A March 2026 report by the US Government Accountability Office stated that SpaceX had made only “limited progress” in developing the required in-orbit refuelling technology. The first demonstration of the system is tentatively scheduled for late 2026. What are the Artemis IV and Artemis V missions? NASA hopes Artemis IV, targeted for 2028, will become the first crewed lunar landing mission of the modern era. Astronauts are expected to land near the Moon’s south pole and remain on the surface for about a week. Scientists believe frozen water trapped inside permanently shadowed craters could eventually provide drinking water, oxygen and rocket fuel for future missions. Artemis II: The mission that paved the way Artemis II launched on 1 April 2026 from the Kennedy Space Center. Its four-member crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — became the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit since 1972. During the 10-day mission, Orion travelled around the far side of the Moon, coming within 4,000 miles of the lunar surface and reaching a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth — farther than any human has ever travelled. The capsule successfully splashed down off the coast of San Diego on 10 April 2026. The mission tested Orion’s life-support and communication systems and provided engineers with their first detailed assessment of how the spacecraft’s heat shield performs during a lunar return. Artemis II demonstrated that the hardware could safely carry astronauts on deep-space missions. However, despite its success, the remaining technical challenges facing the Artemis programme are far more complex. NASA’s long-term Moon base plans The broader goal of the Artemis programme is to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon. NASA’s Moon Base programme, unveiled in May 2026 by Administrator Jared Isaacman, outlines three phases: Before 2029 Robotic landers and hopping drones will survey the lunar south polar region and deliver scientific instruments. From 2029 onwards Repeated crewed missions will gradually expand the site. By the mid-2030s NASA envisions semi-permanent habitats where astronauts can live and work on the Moon for extended periods. A functioning lunar base would support long-term scientific research, allow testing of technologies for future Mars missions, and eventually enable the extraction of lunar resources. It would also help the United States maintain its lead over China in a renewed space race. Challenges facing the Artemis programme Many experts doubt that NASA’s timeline can be achieved. Concerns remain over the slow development of SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander and the fact that no in-orbit refuelling tests have yet taken place. Another major setback occurred on 28 May 2026, when Blue Origin’s only launch pad at Cape Canaveral suffered significant damage after a rocket exploded during an engine test. Rebuilding the New Glenn launch pad is expected to take many months. When SpaceX lost a launch pad in 2016, reconstruction took 15 months — and SpaceX had other facilities available. Blue Origin does not, raising concerns about its ability to provide the Blue Moon Mk2 lander required for Artemis V. “It would not surprise me at all if China gets there first,” Open University scientist Dr Simeon Barber told the BBC. According to Barber, the greatest challenge remains the lunar lander itself — the most technically demanding element of the mission architecture and the component least directly controlled by NASA. When was the last Moon mission? The last human mission to the Moon was Apollo 17 in December 1972. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent three days exploring the Taurus-Littrow Valley. No human has set foot on the Moon in the more than 50 years since. In total, 24 American astronauts have travelled to the Moon and 12 have walked on its surface, all as part of the Apollo programme. Five of those astronauts are still alive. The United States initially pursued lunar exploration during the 1960s primarily to beat the Soviet Union and demonstrate its technological and geopolitical superiority. Once that objective was achieved, political interest, public enthusiasm and funding for further lunar exploration gradually declined. Which other countries plan to send astronauts to the Moon? China has announced plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030. The country has already tested its Mengzhou crew capsule and Lanyue lunar lander and is developing the Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket. India has set a target of sending astronauts to the Moon around 2040, following the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 near the lunar south pole in 2023. Russia is participating in a China-led international lunar base project planned for the mid-2030s, although sanctions, funding constraints and technical challenges have cast uncertainty over its contribution. European and Japanese astronauts are also expected to take part in future Artemis missions. However, there is currently no contractual guarantee that an international astronaut will fly on Artemis III.