NASA announce new moon mission for Artemis astronauts

Today, NASA has announced that Artemis astronauts will have to complete an extra moon mission, before it will attempt to land them on the moon.

The update’s been made two days after the Artemis II mission was pushed back to April – the second time it’s been delayed – due to problems with the rocket.

Artemis II will send four astronauts on a trip around the moon, but a moon landing was originally planned to take place during its follow-up mission, Artemis III.

But now, this won’t happen.

Instead, NASA says the Artemis III mission will involve astronauts riding in the Orion spacecraft, which they’ll practise connecting to lunar landers whilst still orbiting Earth.