NASA expects to land astronauts on the moon in 2025 or 2026

The NASA Artemis 3 mission, which involves landing two astronauts on the moon, could take place at the end of 2025 or in 2026, Bill Nelson, the head of the administration of the American space agency, said during parliamentary hearings.

“We expect Artemis 3 to launch in a year (after Artemis 2), it could be late 2025, it could be 2026,” leads his words “Interfax”.

A total of four people will take part in the mission, two of them will spend a six-day mission on the surface of the moon, he added.

As part of the Artemis 1 mission, the Orion spacecraft spent about three weeks in uncrewed space in November-December last year, including three days in retrograde orbit of the Moon. The subsequent Artemis 2 mission is planned to make the first manned flight of the Orion, and the Artemis 3 mission is planned to land astronauts on the moon.

Earlier in January Nelson informed about the tightening of the lunar race of the USA and China. In his opinion, China can gain a foothold and try to dominate the moon, in its most resource-rich places. Beijing had previously announced plans to land on the moon by the end of the decade, and delays in the US program could leave China behind, Politico noted at the time. Under former US President Donald Trump, NASA moved the moon landing schedule by a year.

Nelson added that the U.S. was ahead of schedule in its plans to return to the Moon, but when asked if U.S. astronauts would arrive before China, he replied, “It’s the Lord’s will.”