NASA OIG Flags Gaps in Artemis Moon Lander Safety as Schedule Slips

NASA's own watchdog says the agency has work to do before putting astronauts on the Moon.

The NASA Office of Inspector General released a report March 10 finding "gaps" in the agency's approach to managing risks for the SpaceX Starship and Blue Origin Blue Moon landers destined for Artemis. The big one: if something goes wrong and astronauts get stranded, NASA can't rescue them — same problem Apollo faced over 50 years ago.

"We do not have the capability to rescue the stranded crew," the OIG noted dryly.

Beyond that, the report flags concerns about testing rigor. NASA isn't following its own "Test Like You Fly" principles on uncrewed demonstration flights — meaning the landers won't be validated in the exact config they'll use when astronauts are aboard. Neither SpaceX nor Blue Origin has nailed down manual control requirements. And both companies are behind schedule.

SpaceX's Starship development has slipped at least two years. The 171-foot vehicle — roughly a 14-story building — poses a tipping risk on lunar slopes over 8 degrees. The South Pole, where Artemis will land, has slopes up to 20 degrees. NASA calls the elevator "a top risk." The crew rides down 115 feet in a lift with no backup egress method if it fails.

Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 is roughly eight months behind. Nearly half of its preliminary design review action items were still open as of last August.

The OIG also dinged the orbital refueling challenge. Neither company has demonstrated cryogenic propellant transfer at the scale required — 10 to 20 tanker flights to top off one lunar lander. That test was supposed to happen in March 2025, then slipped to March 2026. It hasn't.

Loss-of-crew risk thresholds: 1-in-40 for lunar operations, 1-in-30 overall. Apollo accepted 1-in-10. The space shuttle ended up 1-in-70.

One saving grace: the report was completed before NASA's Feb. 27 architecture overhaul, which added an Earth-orbit test flight before any landing. That may address some concerns. But the underlying hardware issues haven't changed.