NASA Is Still Aiming for the Next Moon Landing in 2028 New York Times (Online) Kenneth Chang Can NASA land astronauts on the moon in 2028? On Friday, NASA's administrator, Jared Isaacman, did not promise yes, but he said the space agency was working as hard as possible to meet that target. “We have the mandate, we have the resources, the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that's what we intend to do,” Mr. Isaacman said during a news conference that provided updates on NASA's Artemis program, which aims to put Americans back on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. In April, NASA sent four astronauts on a loop around the moon, without landing, during the Artemis II mission . In summer 2027, Artemis III is scheduled to orbit Earth for 14 to 17 days so that astronauts can practice docking procedures with prototypes of lunar landers, which are being developed by two commercial companies: SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk, and Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' company. NASA has not yet decided which lander it will use for Artemis IV, the mission scheduled for late 2028 that will put two astronauts on the lunar surface near the moon's south pole. Both lander designs will have to conduct an uncrewed demonstration flight to the moon before astronauts climb aboard. Many outside experts doubt that a 2028 moon landing is possible and expect that China will get its astronauts to the surface before Artemis does. At the news conference, Mr. Isaacman and other top NASA officials talked about how they were looking to speed things up without compromising safety. For example, the agency is exploring the idea of a simpler spacesuit design for the early Artemis moon landings. This suit would not have all of the capabilities that NASA will eventually need when astronauts spend weeks or months on the moon. But it would cut the mass in half, to 250 pounds per suit, saving precious weight that would need to go to the moon and back. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .