NASA's Moon-to-Mars mission gains momentum amid safety challenges: report

Amit Kshatriya, NASA deputy associate administrator of the Moon to Mars Program, speaks to the press during an Artemis media event in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on December 16. The United States is delaying its planned return to the Moon from 2026 to 'mid-2027,' citing heat shield issues and other problems plaguing its Orion crew capsule, NASA officials said December 5. [Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP]

By Stephanie Dwilson | 2025-02-19

NASA's ambitious Artemis program, which aims to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon and pave the way for future missions to Mars, has made significant strides over the past year, according to the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP).

The progress of the Artemis campaign was noted in the 2024 annual report of ASAP, an advisory committee that reports to NASA and the US Congress. It examens NASA's overall safety performance, accomplishments and challenges during the past year.

"Over the past year, NASA has continued to make meaningful progress toward meeting the intent of the broad-ranging recommendations the panel has made over the last several years," said retired US Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms, chair of ASAP.

"We believe that the agency's careful attention to vision, strategy, governance and program management is vital to the safe execution of NASA's complex and critical national mission."

The Artemis II Orion is displayed in its Final Assembly Cell inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on December 16. [Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP]

NASA's Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop the mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B on November 11, 2022, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch was part of the Artemis I program. [NASA]

Progress and risk management

Despite the advances being made, "of particular concern are the risks surrounding the development, integration and execution of the Artemis campaign," the report noted.

The Artemis program is structured in four future key phases following the mission of Artemis I.

Artemis I launched in November 2022 and splashed down on Earth a few weeks later. It was an uncrewed flight test aimed at preparing "for a long-term presence at the Moon that will enable future crewed missions to Mars," NASA said in a statement on its website.

The next phase of the mission is Artemis II. It is scheduled as a crewed mission in which four astronauts will orbit the Moon to test NASA's deep-space exploration systems, including the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft.

Artemis III, planned as the first human landing at the Moon's South Pole and now scheduled for 2027, will see SpaceX providing the lunar landing system and Axiom Space supplying surface suits and spacewalk systems.

This mission would return humans to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Artemis IV will begin construction of the Gateway space station, the first lunar orbiting outpost.

In the last phase of Artemis, the Mars mission could see astronauts travel to the planet as early as the 2030s.

The ASAP 2024 annual report commended NASA for consolidating the Artemis missions under the newly established Moon to Mars (M2M) Program Office. This move enhances accountability, improves risk management and streamlines the integration of various mission components, it said.

NASA has made notable progress in addressing challenges from the uncrewed Artemis I mission, including resolving heat shield issues observed during its 2022 reentry, the report said.

The panel also commended NASA for its proactive approach, which included chartering an independent review team, investigating the root cause of the heat shield's spalling and char loss, implementing measures to prevent similar issues on Artemis II and adjusting the mission's launch date to no earlier than April 2026.

Balancing ambition and safety

However, Artemis III, which aims to land humans on the Moon, presents unprecedented challenges, ASAP emphasized.

"It is important for the Program to maintain a reasonable campaign cadence for Artemis III, but to be vigilant about avoiding unrealistic, unachievable and overly risky choices," the report said.

ASAP added that the timeline for this mission may be overly ambitious because of multiple critical first-time milestones, including the following:

Conducting the first crewed landing at the Moon's South Pole.
Ensuring crewed flight safety
Validating fuel delivery, cryogenic refueling and storage
Testing lunar descent, ascent and spacesuit performance

The overall Artemis campaign is "supremely challenging and fraught with uncertainty," the panel warned.

The report also highlighted the importance of NASA's role as the "prime integrator," overseeing multiple contractors and ensuring clearly defined safety responsibilities for each.

Risk management is a cornerstone of the M2M program culture, the report said, noting the program's commitment to eliminating or reducing risks rather than merely acknowledging them.

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