NASA's Office of Inspector General suggests that the demonstration of the new spacesuits may not take place until 2031. Thus, the Moon landing in 2028 may not occur. The head of the U.S. space agency insists that everything will be done on time.
A new report from NASA's Office of Inspector General states that the space agency will not be able to deliver next-generation spacesuits for the Moon landing by 2028. This is when the Artemis 4 mission is scheduled to take place, marking the first time humans will return to the lunar surface since 1972. However, NASA chief Jared Isaacman stated that the new spacesuits will be ready for demonstration and testing in space by 2027, according to Focus.
Currently, NASA astronauts use spacesuits for spacewalks from the International Space Station (ISS) that were developed in the early 1980s. During the Apollo program, NASA astronauts roamed the Moon in suits created in the 1960s. This means both types of these spacesuits are in need of replacement.
The new report from NASA's Office of Inspector General indicates that, in particular, the new lunar spacesuit will not be ready for use until 2031. This means that the planned 2028 landing of NASA astronauts on the Moon may not occur.
Initially, NASA attempted to develop a new lunar spacesuit independently, but this effort was unsuccessful. According to the report, this is one of the reasons why astronauts were unable to land on the Moon in 2024, and subsequent crewed missions have been repeatedly postponed.
Currently, Axiom Space is creating a new lunar spacesuit for NASA. The company is also developing a new suit for spacewalks from the ISS. The report states that delays in the development of the lunar spacesuit could affect the timeline for the Artemis 4 mission.
However, NASA chief Jared Isaacman assures that the new lunar spacesuit will be ready for demonstration and testing by 2027 due to a new approach to development. Isaacman stated that he is confident astronauts will land on the Moon in 2028 wearing suits from Axiom Space.
According to Isaacman, testing of the new lunar spacesuits will take place during the Artemis 3 mission in low Earth orbit. During this mission, astronauts are expected to test the docking process of the Orion spacecraft and the lunar lander. This could be a module from Blue Origin or from SpaceX.
