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NASA delays robotic moon mission

Los Angeles: NASA has delayed the launch of an unmanned spacecraft to the moon to scout for potential landing sites for astronauts.

The moon craft is the first step in NASA’s programme to send astronauts to the moon and beyond. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was supposed to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in early December aboard an Atlas V rocket. But the launch was pushed back after NASA agreed to swap with the Air Force, which will fly a prototype space drone.

NASA spokesman Grey Hautaluoma said the new launch window, which opens February 27, 2009, relieves schedule pressure and provides more launch opportunities. “When we looked at the trade-offs ... it seemed like a wise thing to do,” he said this week.

NASA officials insist they could have met the original target. The delay will cost the space agency up to $7 million a month.

The swap means NASA will miss the Bush administration’s stated goal of exploring the moon with a robotic spacecraft by 2008. NASA plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2020. — AP

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