Image (Credit): NASA’s Space Launch System on the tarmac. (NASA)
“To be clear, we are far from anything being settled, but based on what I’m hearing it seems at least 50-50 that Nasa’s Space Launch System rocket will be canceled.”
Image (Credit): Fireplace video for home entertainment. (NASA)
If you are looking for a unique way to celebrate the holidays, consider using this NASA-provided fireplace video to warm your heart. You can gain access to it here.
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of a lunar base. (NASA)
“We believe once governments and the Artemis missions have re-established human presence on the moon, commercial services will follow that…every operation on the moon will require power”.
-Statement by Jake Thompson, director of novel nuclear and special projects at Rolls-Royce, in a Financial Times article. Rolls Royce is working on a micro nuclear reactor for use on space missions.
Image (Credit): The return of the Starship booster on November 19, 2024. It splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico. (SpaceX)
The sixth test of SpaceX’s Starship was a success this past Tuesday, even without the repeated stunt of a tower capturing the booster rocket. The launch from the Starbase pad in Brownsville, Texas allowed SpaceX to test additional features related to the rocket, including igniting one of its Raptor engines while in space. Overall, it was a quick turnaround from another successful test flight last month.
SpaceX also received additional good news this week when it learned that Colorado-based Lunar Outpost selected SpaceX’s Starship as the party to deliver its lunar rover to the Moon. Lunar Outpost is one of several companies working with NASA to ensure a rover is on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis mission. NASA has yet to select one or more companies to build and test the rovers on the Moon.
All of this is good news for SpaceX and NASA, assuming the Starship stays on schedule, NASA funding of Artemis continues, and a new administration in DC continues to support the Artemis approach.
The graphic above highlights the party platforms on space, showing a lot of similarity between the two parties. If you also consider the fact that the Artemis program was started under the first Trump Administration, as well as the close association between Trump and Elon Musk (at the moment), then one sees an even stronger indication that the Moon and Mars will remain a large part of the new administration’s focus.
The article notes:
For former President Trump, maintaining U.S. preeminence is a major component of his campaign rhetoric. To that end, a second Trump Administration would likely view space as a key arena for competition with China, and would therefore prioritize initiatives aimed at maintaining American dominance in the space domain. This could include bolstering programs that accelerate the development of commercial space capabilities, like Artemis and the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Mars Sample Return is an example of a program that offers an opportunity to leverage the burgeoning commercial space industry to accomplish something that no other nation has: returning scientifically significant samples from another planet.
All of this should offer some protection for NASA in a new administration that is already talking about downsizing government and eliminating at least one department. Besides, I doubt a cost-cutting panel headed by Mr. Musk will cut off the hand that feeds him. NASA has been good to SpaceX, and that is likely to continue.
We will see many more papers and opinion pieces on potential changes in the days and weeks to come.
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