Former NASA astronauts who have been on moon missions told the BBC they are unhappy with U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to delay future such missions.

Obama last month canceled NASA's Constellation Moon landings program, approved by former President George W. Bush. The space agency still plans to send astronauts to the moon, but the BBC said it would likely take decades or never occur at all.

The astronauts spoke to the BBC in London at a private event at the Royal Society Friday.

The BBC reported Jim Lovell, commander of the Apollo 13 mission, said Obama's decision would have "catastrophic consequences" for U.S. space exploration. "Personally I think it will have catastrophic consequences in our ability to explore space and the spin-offs we get from space technology," he said.

"They haven't thought through the consequences."

The last man on the moon, astronaut Eugene Cernan, called the decision "disappointing".

"I'm quite disappointed that I'm still the last man on the moon" with Apollo 17 in 1972, Cernan told the BBC. "I thought we'd have gone back long before now."

Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon with Apollo 11 in 1969, was at the event but declined comment on the president's decision.