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NASA pushes back return to the moon

NASA Moon Landing
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NASA will not send humans to the moon in 2024, a deadline set by the Trump administration.

In a briefing with reporters Tuesday, NASA said a manned mission to the moon would happen no earlier than 2025.

"The Trump administration target of 2024 human landing was not grounded in technical feasibility," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.

Nelson said an unmanned test flight is scheduled for February 2022. He added that astronauts are scheduled for a flight around the moon in May 2024, a year later than the previous goal.

Apollo 17 was NASA's last successful mission to the moon. The crew of three landed on the lunar surface in December 1972.