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posted by martyb on Saturday September 21 2019, @08:42AM   Printer-friendly
from the SLS-has-taken-longer-than-Apollo-and-what-has-it-accomplished? dept.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/09/some-nasa-contractors-appear-to-be-trying-to-kill-the-lunar-gateway/

During a hearing of the House space subcommittee on Wednesday, the outlines of a battle over the future of NASA's Artemis Moon program emerged. Yet it was not a partisan fight over whether the Republican White House plan to land humans on the Moon by 2024 should or shouldn't happen. Instead, some members of both political parties questioned how the space agency planned to conduct the Artemis program.

These members, including Oklahoma Democratic representative and committee chair Kendra Horn, as well as Alabama Republican representative Mo Brooks, were particularly skeptical of private rockets in their comments and questions during the hearing. They also pressed NASA on why the agency is not moving more quickly with development of a powerful second stage upgrade for the agency's Space Launch System rocket. This "Exploration Upper Stage" would increase the amount of mass the rocket could send to the Moon from 26 tons to 37 tons.

Wednesday's hearing was notable because it appears to mark an escalation in an intense lobbying battle going on behind the scenes by some contractors—most likely led by Boeing—to kill NASA's proposed Lunar Gateway and instead accelerate funding for the Exploration Upper Stage.
...
What was surprising is that Horn and others at the hearing also appeared to be swayed by Doug Cooke's view that bypassing commercial rockets and the Gateway would lead to a simpler and faster lunar mission. "I believe there is value in developing commercial capabilities," she said toward the end of the hearing. However, she added, "I am concerned that the decisions are not being driven by what is most efficient or effective and what is most cost efficient."

This is an interesting viewpoint given that commercial rockets cost $100 to $200 million, at most, versus the $1 billion to $2 billion cost of a single SLS rocket—not including the hundreds of millions of dollars, at a minimum, the agency would have to invest in Exploration Upper Stage development contracts with Boeing. Moreover, one of the commercial rockets—the Falcon Heavy—already exists and has flown three successful missions. Other boosters, including Blue Origin's powerful New Glenn rocket, should be ready to fly in two or three years. An SLS rocket with the better upper stage almost certainly wouldn't be ready by 2024, and NASA knows this.


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  • (Score: 2) by corey on Saturday September 21 2019, @10:03PM (1 child)

    by corey (2202) on Saturday September 21 2019, @10:03PM (#896919)

    Gee it must be frustrating in the program management levels at NASA to execute work and manage thousands of engineers when you have politicians interfering and reprioritising space programs.

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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday September 22 2019, @03:04AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday September 22 2019, @03:04AM (#896996) Journal

    Gee it must be frustrating

    Or profitable. Certain dysfunctional systems are frustrating only for those trying to do something.