On Friday afternoon, local time (October 23), at a press conference held at the Kennedy Space Center, despite widespread concerns about the progress of hardware preparations for the moon landing project, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman still insisted that the agency is progressing as planned in its plan to return America to the moon.
According to Bloomberg and other reports, on that day, Isaacman and NASA officials jointly released a report titled 'Acceleration' detailing the progress of the Artemis program. They announced that in order to ensure that American astronauts can return to the moon before the year 2028, the originally planned lunar mission, Artemis 3, would be changed to a low-Earth orbit rendezvous and docking test in 2027. The actual manned lunar mission was postponed and reorganized as Artemis 4, scheduled for early 2028.
The report mentioned that Isaacman told all NASA employees in a memo in September that “Artemis 3” was already three months behind schedule, but there was still a chance to catch up on the delay.
He said at the press conference that this memorandum should be regarded as “inspiring information”. “Does this mean we can fully recover those 90 days? There are many aspects that can be recovered from what is disclosed in the memorandum, but more new things will emerge later,” he said.
During the two-hour press conference, NASA officials provided detailed information about the moon landing plan, but did not share any new details regarding the timeline.
In fact, NASA announced significant adjustments to the Artemis program in February this year. The new plan involves sending four astronauts into low Earth orbit during the next major mission, “Artemis 3”. They will then dock with prototype landing vehicles built by SpaceX and Blue Origin to test the operations necessary for a lunar landing. “Artemis 4” thus becomes the actual mission for lunar landings.
Reports suggest that even with these adjustments, there is still doubt as to whether SpaceX and Blue Origin’s landers will be ready in time for the Artemis 3 and 4 missions.
NASA also confirmed that its commercial partner, Axiom Space, is developing a more simplified lunar spacesuit for Artemis 4, in order to help it meet the deadline of 2028. However, in April this year, NASA's Inspector General's office warned that Axiom's initial space suit design might not be ready until 2031.
Facing doubts about progress, Isaacman repeated his old argument, focusing on China. At the press conference, he said that since China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, it has established extensive space capabilities and plans to achieve manned lunar landing by 2030. He further argued that these technological advancements have turned the current competition between China and the United States into a more intense and closer rivalry than the Apollo program during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union.
"NASA will not sit idly by and watch; we will ensure that this most crucial moment of this century does not fall into the hands of our overseas competitors," he said.
Isaacman also emphasized that NASA will not compromise on safety. They are working hard to streamline their bureaucracy and accelerate decision-making as well as the development of hardware.
Americans believe that after more than half a century, they are once again involved in a new round of space competition, with China as their rival. The Chinese side does not agree with this narrative of a competitive battle.
Qian Yuqi, the leader of the research on lunar soil at the University of Hong Kong in China, participated in the lunar mission. In a previous interview, he stated that regardless of what 'Artemis' does, China's exploration program will continue according to the timeline set a few years ago.
"In fact, China is not burdened," he stated directly, "we have done more with a bit of freedom. I don't believe China sees this as a competition."
