At the core of Isaacman’s concerns is the low flight rate of the SLS rocket and Artemis missions. During past exploration missions, from Mercury through Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle program, NASA has launched humans on average about once every three months. It has been nearly 3.5 years since Artemis I launched.

The overhaul in the flight lineup came just two days after NASA’s new moon rocket returned to its hangar for more repairs, and a safety panel warned the space agency to scale back its overly ambitious goals for humanity’s first lunar landing since 1972.

In shaking up its Artemis lunar program, NASA's new moon plan looks more like the Apollo missions of the 1960s. Instead of landing on the surface on Artemis III, NASA hopes to do so on Artemis IV.

One of these involves the extent to which astronauts flying on board SpaceX’s Starship should be able to take manual control of the vehicle during flights down to the lunar surface.

NASA's moon landing program delay represents the latest in in technical, budgetary, workforce and public perception challenges plaguing the agency.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced significant changes to the agency's Artemis program, which aims to land on the moon in 2028.

NASA announced significant changes on Friday to its Artemis lunar exploration program, restructuring upcoming missions and adjusting development priorities as the agency seeks to accelerate astronauts’ return to the moon following years of delays.