Despite the spacecraft's flaws, NASA is preparing to send humans to the moon.

NASA is preparing to send humans back to the moon in a flawed spacecraft that not everyone believes is safe for space travel.

Some experts have urged the space agency to postpone the upcoming " Artemis 2 " mission, scheduled to launch on February 6, due to some flaws in the " Orion " spacecraft.

However, NASA is confident in its ability to deal with the problem, asserting that the spacecraft is capable of safely returning the crew.

According to CNN, the problem relates to a special layer on the bottom of the spacecraft known as the heat shield, which is a vital part to protect astronauts from extreme temperatures during their return to Earth during the final stage of their mission to the moon .

This part of the Orion spacecraft is similar to the heat shield that was used in the unmanned Artemis 1 mission in 2022.

After the spacecraft returned from that mission, NASA launched an investigation after unexpected damage appeared in the heat shield.

After a year of investigation, NASA decided to relaunch the Orion capsule on the Artemis 2 mission as is, asserting that it can guarantee the crew's safety in space by modifying the flight path.

Dr. Danny Olivas, a former NASA astronaut who was a member of an independent review team appointed by the agency to investigate the incident, said: "This is an unusual heat shield. There is no question about it, this is not the shield NASA would want to hand out to its astronauts."

However, Olivas said that he believes, after years of analyzing what happened, that NASA "has managed to understand the problem."

Olivas added: "I think no flight takes off without some ongoing doubt, but we really understand what they have. They know the importance of the heat shield to the safety of the crew and I think they did their duty."

Warning about the dangers of heat shields

However, other experts questioned NASA's claims. Charlie Camarda, a heat shield expert, research scientist, and former NASA astronaut, said: "What they're talking about is crazy."

Camardo, who was a member of the first space shuttle crew launched after the Columbia disaster in 2003, is among a group of former NASA employees who do not believe the agency should put astronauts on board the next lunar mission.

He noted that he spent months trying to convince the agency's leadership to warn of the dangers of the heat shield , but to no avail.

The former astronaut added: "We could have solved this problem a long time ago, but he keeps postponing it."