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According to experts, NASA can probably meet the aggressive schedule of landing the moon of the Trump administration, but it will not be easy.
On Tuesday, March 26, Vice President Mike Pence asked NASA to place astronauts on the lunar surface by 2024, four years earlier than planned. Such urgency is necessary to preserve the country's leadership and domination in the space, said Mr. Pence.
"The United States must remain first in the space of this century as in the last, not only to propel our economy and secure our country, but above all, because the rules and values of space , like all the great borders, will be written by those who have the courage to get there first and the commitment to stay, "said the vice president at the fifth meeting of the National Council of Space, which he presides.
Related: The United States is taking part in a new space race with China and Russia, said Vice President Pence
NASA Director Jim Bridenstine expressed confidence that the 2024 goal is achievable. It was the same for the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, Orion 's main contractor, the crew capsule that NASA astronauts will use to the Moon and other destinations of the world. deep space.
For example, Lockheed's representatives said the company could build a crewed lunar landing gear relatively quickly, exploiting the technologies developed for Orion. This lander could land by 2024, provided it departs from a "first version" of Gateway , the space station in lunar orbit that NASA plans to build in 2022 as a point of support for landing operations.
"This approach offers an earlier landing capability incorporating reusable technology that also lays the groundwork for a future sustainable and expanded human presence on the moon," said Lisa Callahan, vice president and chief executive officer. the commercial civilian space of Lockheed Martin Space, in an email. declaration. "This is an ambitious yet achievable timetable and one that could be the catalyst to help revive a new era of human exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond."
And experts who do not have skin in the game have agreed that 2024 is feasible.
"This has not been done casually," said John Logsdon, space policy expert, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George University. Washington, DC, DC
"The space council members are smart people, and they would not fix such a date without an idea of the possible," he told Space.com.
"I think it's feasible," space policy expert Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, told Space.com.
Staying on this ambitious timetable will require a concerted effort from NASA, the White House and the Office of Management and Budget, said Logsdon. Callahan recognized this reality in his statement, and Weeden put forward a similar argument.
"The question has always been political," said Weeden. Historically, Congress and the White House tend to push NASA in different directions, he explained, and the agency does not have enough money to do whatever it takes is asked.
Thus, the executive and legislative powers will have to be on the same page and stay put to make 2024 a reality, said Weeden. And NASA may also need to adjust its deep space strategy, he added.
This strategy involves smoothing astronauts using Orion and the Space launch system (SLS), a giant rocket under development. SLS is to be launched for the first time in 2020, when it will send Orion during an unarmed test flight around the moon, a company known as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1).
However, SLS has experienced many delays, so meeting the 2024 deadline may require a "business solution," Weeden said. Whatever the case may be, he added, NASA and the country will probably have to accept an increased risk.
"If the goal is to land on the Moon by 2024, it does not leave much time for test flights," Weeden said. "Whether it's too risky or not, it's above my salary class – it's a huge debate."
Original article on Space.com.
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