Nasa announces change to its Moon landing plans

Nasa is adding an extra mission to its Artemis programme before it attempts to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time in half a century.

The original plan was to fly around the Moon for the Artemis II mission, which is currently scheduled for April, and then attempt a lunar landing with Artemis III in 2028.

Now Artemis III will stay closer to home - a crew will head to low-Earth orbit in 2027 to practice docking with a lunar lander.

Nasa said this additional flight would not slow down its return to the Moon - it is still aiming for 2028 for one or even two lunar landings in what will be Artemis IV and V.

Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman told a media briefing that he was adding an extra step to the Artemis programme because he did not want such long gaps between launches.

He added that the extra flight to low-Earth orbit would help to test the technology before a Moon landing.

The US space agency also provided an update on the Artemis II mission, which will see four astronauts fly around the far side of the Moon and back to Earth.

Nasa was targeting March for the launch, but its plans were delayed after a helium leak was discovered on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The rocket has now been taken from the launchpad to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be repaired.

The earliest launch opportunity is now in April - but Nasa said the exact date would depend on how long the technical work would take.