{"id":12707,"date":"2020-01-18T20:59:16","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T12:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-expected-to-detail-costs-for-fast-track-moon-landing-program-next-month\/"},"modified":"2020-01-18T20:59:16","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T12:59:16","slug":"nasa-expected-to-detail-costs-for-fast-track-moon-landing-program-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-expected-to-detail-costs-for-fast-track-moon-landing-program-next-month\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA expected to detail costs for fast-track moon landing program next month"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jim Morhard testifies before a Senate committee in 2018 during his confirmation hearing to begin NASA\u2019s deputy administrator. Credit: NASA\/Bill Ingalls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA will release a budget profile with a cost estimate for the agency\u2019s Artemis moon landing program in February in conjunction with the White House\u2019s fiscal year 2021 budget request, according to NASA\u2019s deputy administrator.<\/p>\n

An official estimate for the total cost for NASA\u2019s accelerated Artemis moon landing program, in which the agency aims to return humans to the lunar surface in 2024, has not been released since the 2024 schedule goal was announced by Vice President Mike Pence last March.<\/p>\n

Before Pence\u2019s announcement, NASA was on a pace to land crews on the moon in 2028.<\/p>\n

The lack of budget figures drew the ire of lawmakers last year, who balked at providing NASA with all of the extra money the agency\u2019s leadership said it needed to begin accelerating development for a 2024 crewed moon landing.<\/p>\n

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said then that a more detailed accounting of the project costs for the Artemis program will be released with the fiscal year 2021 budget request in February.<\/p>\n

Jim Morhard, NASA\u2019s deputy administrator, confirmed in a Jan. 8 interview with Spaceflight Now that budget figures for the Artemis program\u2019s projected cost through at least 2024 are still due to come out with the fiscal year 2021 funding plan. The Trump administration\u2019s funding proposal is scheduled to be submitted to Congress on Feb. 10.<\/p>\n

Congress will have to pass an appropriations bill with the final budget for fiscal 2021, a process that was not completed for fiscal year 2020 \u2014 which began Oct. 1 \u2014 until December.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to make this work,\u201d Morhard said. \u201cWe\u2019re working on the \u201921 budget that\u2019s going to come out next month, and I think you\u2019ll see the fruits of what Jim Bridenstine has done working with the White House and OMB (Office of Management and Budget) as far as what we need and where we\u2019re heading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congress appropriated $600 million of the $1 billion NASA requested to kick off a fast-track lunar lander development effort for the Artemis 3 mission, the mission designated as the new program\u2019s first attempt to land astronauts on the moon.<\/p>\n

NASA has not confirmed how the funding shortfall will impact its earlier plans to select up to four industry teams to launch 10-month studies for a human-rated lunar lander, followed by a down-select of two companies to proceed into full-scale development for crewed missions in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

The lunar lander is the final major piece of the lunar landing architecture still in the procurement process.<\/p>\n

According to the agency\u2019s current planning, NASA\u2019s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and the Orion crew capsule \u2014 in development by teams led by Boeing and Lockheed Martin since 2011 and 2006, respectively \u2014 will carry astronauts away from Earth and to the vicinity of the moon, where the Orion will dock with a mini-space station called the Gateway. NASA has agreements with Maxar and Northrop Grumman to provide the core power and habitation modules for the Gateway.<\/p>\n

Three industry teams led by Blue Origin, Boeing and Dynetics have confirmed they submitted proposals for the Artemis program\u2019s Human Landing System. SpaceX is widely believed to have also bid to build a lunar lander for NASA, but the company has not confirmed its participation in the competition.<\/p>\n

The Artemis 1 mission slated for 2021 will be the first unpiloted test flight of the Space Launch System, which will send an Orion capsule toward the moon for a multi-week mission in lunar orbit before it returns to Earth. The Artemis 2 mission will be the first SLS\/Orion flight with astronauts, who will fly around the moon and back to Earth.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, elements of the Gateway outpost and the lunar lander will head toward the moon on commercial rockets, ready for arrival of the Artemis 3 crew in 2024 after launching on the third SLS\/Orion flight.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission, an unpiloted flight to orbit the moon and return to Earth, is seen inside a test chamber in December at NASA\u2019s Plum Brook Station in Ohio. Credit: NASA\/Radislav Sinyak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bridenstine told CNN in June that accomplishing a landing on the moon with astronauts in 2024 could cost $20 to $30 billion over NASA\u2019s regular funding levels. But he later suggested the mission could be accomplished with less federal money, perhaps with additional financial investments from industry.<\/p>\n

Rep. Jose Serrano, D-New York, chairs the House Appropriations Committee\u2019s subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies, which writes the House version of bills that set NASA\u2019s funding levels.<\/p>\n

In October, Serrano said he was concerned about the cost of the accelerated lunar landing program.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo date, NASA has not provided the committee with a full cost estimate, despite repeated requests,\u201d Serrano said.<\/p>\n

Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pennsylvania, likened NASA\u2019s request for extra funding last year for the Artemis program to buying a car with knowledge of the down payment, but not the car\u2019s total cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go to buy a car, and there\u2019s a car salesman standing there, what do you ask him?\u201d Cartwright said in October. \u201cYou ask him how much is the car, right? And when he comes to you and says, \u2018Well it\u2019s only going be $2,000 in the first year,\u2019 you say, \u2018Yeah, but I\u2019m asking you how much the car is?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThats not acceptable,\u201d Cartwright said. \u201cYou need to know the total cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, chairs the Senate subcommittee that drafts NASA budget bills.<\/p>\n

He told Aerospace America last month that he supported the Trump administration\u2019s goal to land humans on the moon in 2024. It would the first time astronauts have landed on the moon since 1972.<\/p>\n

Moran said he\u2019s eager to see the Artemis program\u2019s full cost estimate, according to Aerospace America.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish we had those numbers right now,\u201d Moran told the publication last month.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Morhard testifies before a Senate committee in 2018 during his confirmation hearing to begin NASA\u2019s deputy administrator. Credit: NASA\/Bill Ingalls NASA will release a budget profile with a cost estimate for the agency\u2019s Artemis moon landing program in February in conjunction with the White House\u2019s fiscal year 2021 budget request, according to NASA\u2019s deputy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[304,708,2388,800,1545,2389,625,190],"class_list":["post-12707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-artemis","tag-artemis-3","tag-fy21-budget","tag-human-landing-system","tag-human-spaceflight","tag-jim-morhard","tag-moon","tag-nasa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}