--- title: "Leaked Documents Show NASA’s Moon Landing Plans in Chaos" description: "According to leaked documents obtained by Ars Technica, NASA's plans to return astronauts to the surface on the Moon are in serious trouble." date: "2022-06-21" modified: "2022-06-21" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/leaked-documents-nasa-moon-landing-plans-chaos" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "artemis" - "moon" - "NASA" - "Starship" - "the digest" --- # Leaked Documents Show NASA’s Moon Landing Plans in Chaos ![According to leaked documents obtained by Ars Technica, NASA's plans to return astronauts to the surface on the Moon are in serious trouble.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## More Delays According to leaked documents [obtained by *Ars Technica*](), NASA's plans to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon are in serious trouble. The documents reveal that NASA is dealing with increasingly tight budget constraints, which will likely result in the agency's Artemis III mission — the first crewed mission to the lunar surface — being pushed back from its original 2025 date. In other words, the original goal of reaching the lunar surface by 2024, as set out by the Trump administration, is starting to feel like a distant dream. ## Not Content Revised schedules in the document show that the agency is preparing for more inevitable delays, distinguishing between "baseline" dates, the schedule as it stands, a "cadence" schedule that would prioritize regular launches, and a "content" program that would only launch when each component of each mission is ready. Under the "content" schedule, the Artemis III mission wouldn't launch until 2026, with a rover making its way to the lunar surface not before 2032, as opposed to the currently projected 2030. The agency is also considering an interim mission between Artemis III and Artemis IV — the projected launch of NASA's Gateway, a space station in lunar orbit — to fill an otherwise three-year gap, according to *Ars*. ## Gateway to Nowhere But there's one problem with launching the Gateway: the rocket configuration of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS), called Block 1B, is far from ready. In fact, just the tower it's building for the launch of this SLS iteration is already [way over budget and behind schedule]() — just [like the entire SLS program](). Then there's SpaceX's Starship, also under contract with NASA to send astronauts to the lunar surface, which appears larger and more capable than the Gateway, *Ars* points out — a business reality that could turn the small orbital outpost into an extremely expensive and redundant platform. NASA is clearly still establishing the schedule of returning the first NASA astronauts to the Moon since the early 1970s — and dates are slipping fast. **READ MORE:** [We got a leaked look at NASA’s future Moon missions—and likely delays]() \[*Ars Technica*\] **More on Artemis:** *[Scathing Report Admits NASA Is Years Behind Moon Landing Schedule]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()