NASA will send Artemis III to low-Earth orbit instead of the moon, testing docking systems before a planned 2028 lunar landing.

As part of a Golden Age of exploration and discovery, NASA announced Friday the agency is increasing its cadence of missions under the Artemis program to achieve the national objective of returning American astronauts to the Moon and establishing an enduring presence.

In shaking up its Artemis lunar program, NASA's new moon plan looks more like the Apollo missions of the 1960s. Instead of landing on the surface on Artemis III, NASA hopes to do so on Artemis IV.

Vanessa Wyche is returning to her position as director of NASA's Johnson Space Center. Wyche was tapped as the agency's acting associate administrator, the third highest-ranking executive within NASA, earlier this year by acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro.

NASA began repairs on Artemis II at Kennedy Space Center to resolve helium flow issues in the SLS upper stage while preparing the rocket for April launch opportunities.

NASA on Friday announced an abrupt change to its pathway to getting astronauts back on the lunar surface, opting to add in an additional crewed test flight before attempting to land.