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posted by martyb on Tuesday May 14 2019, @01:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the One-of-these-days,-Alice...-to-the-Moon! dept.

Trump adds $1.6 billion to NASA budget request to kick start 'Artemis' moon mission

The Trump administration is adding an additional $1.6 billion to NASA's $21 billion 2020 budget request to kick start plans to return American astronauts to the moon in 2024, four years earlier than previously planned, NASA announced Monday. In a surprise announcement, agency Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the revitalized moon program will be named Artemis after the Greek goddess of the moon.

[...] According to a NASA fact sheet, the new budget request includes $1 billion "to enable NASA to being supporting the development of commercial human lunar landing systems three years earlier than previously envisioned. This acquisition strategy will allow NASA to purchase an integrated commercial lunar lander that will transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the lunar surface and back."

Gateway development will be limited to what is needed to make the station a viable staging base for trips to the surface. That will free up $321 million for other moon spending. An additional $651 million is earmarked for the Space Launch System — SLS — heavy lift rocket and Orion spacecraft. Lunar surface technologies and propulsion systems would receive an additional $132 million with $90 million going to robotic exploration and research near the moon's south pole.

[...] The same day Bridenstine talked of the challenge of landing on the moon, Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos unveiled a lunar lander called Blue Moon that could put 6.5 metric tons on the surface of the moon. He said Blue Moon, carrying an ascent stage, could meet NASA's schedule for landing astronauts on the surface by 2024.

Previously: NASA Chief Says a Falcon Heavy Rocket Could Fly Humans to the Moon
Here's Why NASA's Audacious Return to the Moon Just Might Work
Lockheed Martin Proposes Streamlined Lunar Gateway for 2024 Manned Lunar Landing


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday May 14 2019, @11:14PM (1 child)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Tuesday May 14 2019, @11:14PM (#843637)

    There is nothing that private company can do that the government can't do worse.

    The problems NASA is having with getting a launch vehicle up and running seems to be a problem with the private industry they have contracted to do the job.

    Government can do some really amazing things, and your particular government did do some amazing things in the past, but you have all been sucked into thinking that government always does things poorly when in fact it is The US government that does things poorly.

    That will largely be because of corruption from what I can see.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:31AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 15 2019, @11:31AM (#843779) Journal

    The problems NASA is having with getting a launch vehicle up and running seems to be a problem with the private industry they have contracted to do the job.

    Private industry has already figured out what to do about poorly performing contractors.

    Government can do some really amazing things, and your particular government did do some amazing things in the past, but you have all been sucked into thinking that government always does things poorly when in fact it is The US government that does things poorly.

    Well, there isn't a government in the world that's doing "really amazing things" in space for a sensible price. Not one. Meanwhile Elon Musk recently did one of the most amazing car commercials ever, using a new rocket in space (usually orders of magnitude increase in cost), at lower cost than normal car commercials.

    That will largely be because of corruption from what I can see.

    Or due to lack of a profit motive. Or due to disinterest in those contracts. Corruption is not the only problem here.