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Artemis

Artemis, NASA's programme to return astronauts to the Moon, has become something of a case study in how large aerospace schedules actually move: not in a straight line, but in a series of announced dates that slip, get re-announced, and slip again. Artemis I flew uncrewed around the Moon in late 2022. Artemis II, a crewed lunar flyby without a landing, has been repeatedly pushed back amid heat-shield and life-support issues, and Artemis III, the mission intended to put astronauts back on the lunar surface, has moved later with almost every public schedule update since the programme's inception.

• Orion's heat shield showed unexpected charring during Artemis I re-entry, prompting a lengthy investigation before crew could be cleared to fly inside it.
• The lunar lander contract depends on repeated in-orbit propellant transfer, a technique demonstrated only in early, partial form.
• Spacesuits for surface operations have faced their own separate development and testing schedule.
• Ground infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center requires modification between each SLS launch, constraining how quickly missions can follow one another.