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Congressmen toasted NASA officials today for failing to come up with a plan to return to the moon within five years. The plan was to be ready by mid-April, but NASA officials say that in a few weeks, the details will be finalized and delivered.
On March 26, Vice President Mike Pence asked NASA to return humans to the surface of the Moon by 2024 during a speech delivered at a meeting of the National Council of l & # 39; space. This marked a significant change in NASA's lead time, which targeted 2028 for its first human landings on the lunar surface. But Pence said NASA had a plan to speed up those landings and that NASA's director, Jim Bridenstine, had leaked the details five minutes before the speech.
However, Pence does not go into these details and they have remained virtually unknown since then. On April 2, Bridenstine informed the Scientific Committee of the House that NASA was preparing an amendment to the President's budget request that would include an estimate of costs and details to meet the administration's challenge. When asked if NASA could submit the amendment by April 15, Bridenstine said the agency would "get really close".
It has been more than three weeks since April 15th. Today, members of the House Scientific Committee have expressed frustration that the amendment is not ready yet. "The lack of planning data so far is not a way to manage the human space exploration agenda of our country," said representative Kendra Horn (D-OK) during the meeting. a committee hearing held today on space exploration plans in the depth of NASA. "The missile of 2024 left NASA in a mad rush to develop a plan and is eager to put together a budget amendment that has not yet been delivered to Congress."
Horn asked why the amendment was not ready in today's hearing. "We are aware that this is a very serious challenge that we have to weigh before us and we need a really strong plan," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's Assistant Administrator for Human Exploration and expert at the audience today. He added, "We have to make sure that everything is integrated and put in place in a really logical way."
Mr. Gerstenmaier stressed that the amendment also had to be approved by the White House, which could also slow things down. However, he said the details would be ready soon. "We are probably in several weeks, maybe one to two weeks before we can give you a plan," he said.
Bridenstine said at a Senate hearing last week that the Moon program would not exceed more than $ 8 billion a year, as reported by some reports. But when Representative Mo Brooks (R-AL) asked how much money Congress could expect to see in the amendment, NASA's experts at the hearing did not hesitate. "For the moment, he is still in discussion," said Mark Sirangelo during the hearing, special assistant in charge of administering NASA's director.
Until now, NASA officials have only given a general overview of how this faster lunar return works. The plan will apparently incorporate most of the vehicles and equipment that NASA had planned for a lunar mission of 2028, with an accelerated schedule. NASA hopes to create a station around the Moon called Gateway, which will serve as a platform for astronauts to get to the surface of the moon and back. The agency is also developing a giant rocket called Space Launch System and a crew capsule called Orion that will transport astronauts to the bridge. And NASA will also need new human lunar landing gear capable of taking people from the surface of Gateway to the Moon.
Administrator Bridenstine noted that all this architecture would be needed for a faster lunar return, but that NASA would focus on getting things done quickly. "The first phase is speed," said Bridenstine during a speech at the symposium on space in April. "We want these boots to be on the moon as soon as possible."
Details of how NASA plans to meet this need for speed should be included in the new budget amendment. Meanwhile, some important developments are waiting at NASA, while the agency is defining its next steps. When Horn asked NASA if she had appropriate moon suits for the next Moon mission, Gerstenmaier said the agency would develop new ones once she had an idea of what the astronauts would do on their first mission . "Then on that basis, we will probably develop a suit to go forward in that direction," he said.
Even once this plan is finalized, uncertainty persists. Any budget submitted by NASA and the White House for the 2024 Moon Plan must be approved by Congress and the representatives are clearly frustrated. "At the moment, we have a White House directive to land humans on the moon in five years, but no plan, no budget details on how to do it, and no integrated roadmap for The exploration of the human space does define the best ways to reach the goal in the horizon, March, "Horn said. "In fact, we are flying blind."
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