NASA safety panel urges review of Artemis IV and LEO access

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said on Oct. 22 that it will soon recommend NASA re-examine Artemis IV plans and future access to low Earth orbit.< |><|endoftext|> Artemis IV is currently planned as the first crewed Artemis lunar landing at the Moon’s South Pole and the first American Moon landing since 1972. Charlie Precourt, an ASAP member and former NASA astronaut, said the panel will urge NASA to look again at Artemis IV goals and possibly its system design for later missions to find a better balance of risk. NASA will hold an Artemis update on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, to present its plan for sending Americans back to the Moon in 2028.< |><|endoftext|> Artemis IV will be the first mission to use cryogenic propellants on the Moon’s surface, and abort options there are more limited than they were during Apollo, which relied on hypergolics. Charlie Precourt made this point during the panel’s fourth-quarter 2026 meeting. More than 50 years have passed since NASA landed anyone on the Moon, and Apollo used a different vehicle in comparatively safe equatorial areas.< |><|endoftext|> NASA requires only a single uncrewed test to prove the Human Landing System can land, followed by an engine restart, and it does not require a liftoff-and-return demonstration to lunar orbit. Kelvin Manning, a NASA human exploration official, said at a National Academies’ Space Studies Board meeting that SpaceX plans to show propellant transfer in space in early 2027, and that the uncrewed SpaceX landing test is scheduled for late 2027. There are no orbiting fuel depots yet, and cryogenic propellant transfer in space has never been demonstrated. Artemis IV needs an in-space fuel depot to hold and refill cryogenic propellant, but that infrastructure does not exist.< |><|endoftext|> Charlie Precourt said the panel heard that 22 launches would be required to provide propellant for the lander to reach lunar orbit. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X that the 22-launch number is wrong and the figure would be 6-8. Cosmic Herald describes Artemis IV as the point where the program’s major wagers come due together, involving two new landers, a contested cryogenic refueling campaign, and a qualification standard without a full ascent demonstration before one crewed South Pole landing.< |><|endoftext|> Steve Creech, NASA’s acting HLS manager, set a third-quarter 2027 target for Artemis III and an early 2028 target for Artemis IV. Jared Isaacman has said he hopes for a second landing in 2028 as well. Isaacman wants astronauts on the Moon before President Trump’s term ends in January 2029 and before China puts taikonauts there. Artemis II flew around the Moon in April 2026, marking a program success before the panel’s fourth-quarter 2026 meeting.< |><|endoftext|> Jared Isaacman changed Artemis III from a lunar landing to an Earth-orbit mission so crews can practice rendezvous and docking with test articles of the new Human Landing Systems. The panel praised Isaacman for this change.< |><|endoftext|> ASAP says uninterrupted human access to low Earth orbit is imperative, and transportation to LEO should come first if a choice between transportation and a destination is required. Paul Hill, an ASAP member and former NASA Director of Mission Operations, called it a chicken-or-egg dilemma: a dependable, strong, and continuous LEO transportation system must come first, because without it no platform can be used. NASA wants continued LEO access for Mars research but will not build another station, instead facilitating commercial companies where it can be one of many customers.< |><|endoftext|> Development of commercial space stations called Commercial LEO Destinations is moving slower than anticipated because NASA is still deciding how best to work with commercial companies. NASA issued the final Request for Proposals for Commercial LEO Destinations. Getting at least one commercial LEO destination operating before the ISS ends is a challenge, as is ensuring crew vehicles to take astronauts back and forth. The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for almost 26 years, with the November 2 anniversary approaching, and NASA plans to deorbit it in 2030.< |><|endoftext|> SpaceX said it will retire the Falcon rocket family and end Crew and Cargo Dragon flights for U.S. human missions in low Earth orbit. Musk said in August he will wind down Falcon once Starship is operating reliably, and SpaceX plans to phase out Falcon in 2030 if Starship is ready to replace it. The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle that SpaceX is building under NASA contract must deorbit the ISS and is meant to launch on Falcon; a different rocket would be needed if the ISS lifetime is extended under pending Senate legislation.< |><|endoftext|> Crew Dragon is the only U.S. vehicle that can ferry crews to and from the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus and Japan’s HTV-X can deliver cargo, but Crew Dragon, Cargo Dragon, and Falcon were expected to be available indefinitely for ISS and future commercial LEO destinations. NASA is requiring another uncrewed Starliner test before putting astronauts aboard, as it did in 2024, when astronauts came home on Crew Dragon after Starliner thruster failures. Kent Rominger said the uncrewed Starliner-1 test remains under review and will not happen before mid-January, and NASA and Boeing said the next crewed mission will be no sooner than mid-2028.< |><|endoftext|> Congress established ASAP following the 1967 Apollo 1 accident that took the lives of astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, and the panel reports to Congress and NASA. SpaceNews reported on Dec. 19, 2025, that NASA’s safety advisers were urging the agency to reconsider its Artemis lunar landing architecture and its handling of incidents like the flawed Starliner test flight.< |><|endoftext|> Paul Hill, an ASAP member, said: “Calling it commercial did not make it so. Calling them partners did not make them so.” He made the remark while discussing NASA’s firm, fixed-price service contracts and the difficulty of creating a commercial market through acquisition.< |>