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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 27 2020, @02:36AM   Printer-friendly
from the entry-for-SpaceX dept.

NASA SLS megarocket shortage causes tug-of-war between moon missions, Europa exploration:

NASA is choosing between human missions to the moon and a robotic mission to Jupiter's icy moon Europa as the agency manages its limited supply of megarockets in the coming years.

The agency began developing its Space Launch System (SLS) in 2010, intending for the rocket to be the agency's primary vehicle for crewed and deep-space missions. But work has been slow, and NASA and Boeing, which builds the vehicles' two main stages, are only now testing the core stage of the first SLS. It won't fly until late next year, when it makes the first flight of NASA's Artemis lunar-exploration program — an uncrewed trip around the moon known as Artemis 1. The schedule will therefore be tight for the third Artemis launch, which aims to land two astronauts near the moon's south pole in 2024.

Meanwhile, engineers are building the Europa Clipper spacecraft, designed to learn enough about the moon's ice shell, subsurface ocean and geology to help scientists determine whether the hidden ocean may suit the needs of life as we know it. And Congress has mandated the agency also use an SLS rocket to launch Europa Clipper — without consideration for whether one may be available.

[...] In terms of rocket science, right now, Europa Clipper can launch on a commercial vehicle, like SpaceX's Falcon Heavy or United Launch Alliance's Delta-IV Heavy rocket, although the mission would then need a longer cruise time to reach its destination.

But in terms of the law, NASA's hands are tied.

"Because of that, we're planning to build the Europa Clipper and then put it into storage, because we're not going to have an SLS rocket available until 2025," Bridenstine said. "That's the current plan. I don't think that's the right plan, but we're going to follow the law."


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday October 27 2020, @05:27PM (1 child)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 27 2020, @05:27PM (#1069392) Journal

    Senator Shelby, I thought Republicans were against welfare.

    Unless it is to rich, powerful people.

    And corporations are people too!

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday October 27 2020, @06:42PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 27 2020, @06:42PM (#1069445) Journal

    And corporations are people too!

    Because the rich, powerful people really give a shit about that, amirite?