Image (Credit): The official Artemis II mission crew patch. (NASA)
“We’ve got spacecraft that are going around the moon with Artemis II, III, IV and V. One way or another, we’re going to make sure that Johnson Space Center gets their historic spacecraft.”
–Statement by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to CNBC when asked about the planned move of the Discovery space shuttle from the Smithsonian Museum in Chantilly, VA to the Space Center Houston museum. He said this after highlighting the costs and risks related to this proposed move. Some in Congress have opposed the move for these very reasons, in addition to it being a political gimmick by the White House that makes little sense.
Image (Credit): Apollo Astronaut James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, works at the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the first Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. (NASA)
Just as Jared Isaacman, NASA’s new Administrator, started to settle into his new post, the White House updated the nation’s space priorities.
Returning to the Moon by 2028, and the establishment of initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost by 2030;
Deploying of nuclear reactors on the Moon and in orbit, including a lunar surface reactor ready for launch by 2030; and
Spurring private sector innovation and investment by upgrading launch infrastructure and developing a commercial pathway to replace the International Space Station by 2030.
Adding nuclear reactors as its own goal seems a little odd since it could simply be wrapped into the first goal related to a permanent lunar outpost, but maybe this is just to kick regolith into the eyes of the Chinese who announced a similar intention.
Returning to the Moon by 2028 will certainly be a challenge, but luckily Administrator Isaacman is showing no favorites when it comes to meeting this goal. This week he made this statement about plans to return to the Moon:
I don’t think it was lost on either vendor that whichever lander was available first to ensure that America achieves its strategic objectives on the moon is the one we were going to go with.
His friend Elon Musk was certainly listening, but so far we have not heard him say that the new NASA Administrator has a 2 digit IQ. Of course, it has only been a few days, though the honeymoon is likely to be very short.
Earlier today, Jared Isaacman was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new administrator of NASA. The final Senate vote was was 67-30, which is an encouraging sign showing that he is off to a good start. Anything bipartisan is unique in this environment.
Sean Duffy, the acting administrator, can now go back to the Department of Transportation. Fortunately, his effort to make NASA a sub-component of his department has failed.
The Planetary Society had a nice statement welcoming Mr. Jared to his new role and also emphasizing what needs to be done in partnership with the Congress:
The Planetary Society congratulates Jared Isaacman on becoming NASA’s 15th Administrator. After nearly a year of historic disruptions to the agency’s workforce, facilities, and budget, Mr. Isaacman has the opportunity to stabilize and reinvigorate the U.S. space program.
Congress is on a path to provide Mr. Isaacman with a restored budget that better funds national priorities: returning humans to the Moon, maintaining U.S. leadership in space science and exploration, and training the next generation of scientists and aerospace engineers. This is a remarkable statement of support for NASA’s mission, and Mr. Isaacman publicly committed to make full use of the funds that Congress provides.
The Planetary Society is ready to work with the new Administrator to advance our shared goals of maintaining NASA as the world leader in space science and exploration.
We should all wish Mr. Isaacman the best of luck in his new role. He will need all the support he can get to set the agency on a sustainable path.
Image (Credit): Artist’s rending of the two EscaPADE probems approaching Mars. (NASA)
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket is scheduled to be launched tomorrow afternoon with two Martian probes on board. A lot is riding on tomorrow’s launch. The mission is important for Blue Origin, as it tests its new rocket with its first real mission. It is also important to NASA, which is using the probes to better understand the Martian atmosphere.
Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket will put it in direct competition with SpaceX for future NASA missions. This redundancy is needed, particularly with SpaceX seeming to struggle with its projects related to the Atemis lunar mission.
The $100 million Martian mission, called Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), involves a pair of identical spacecraft with a the goal of analyzing:
how Mars’ magnetic field guides particle flows around the planet,
how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through the magnetosphere, and
what processes control the flow of energy and matter into and out of the Martian atmosphere.
The two probes will be launched towards Lagrange Point 2, where they will sit for more than a year before making an approach towards Mars. The probes are expected to go into orbit around Mars in September 2027.
Image (Credit): Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan on the surface of the Moon. He was the last US astronaut to walk on the Moon. (NASA)
Acting NASA Administrator had to time time out of his day (or at least a staff member had to) to respond to a dumb comment by, let us say, a less-than-scientifically minded Kim Kardashian. She had earlier shared her doubts about whether the United States ever placed astronauts on the Moon. Of course, it is not an original sentiment, but it does gain traction in this social media age where dumb comments are golden.
Yes, @KimKardashian, we’ve been to the Moon before… 6 times!
And even better: @NASAArtemis is going back under the leadership of @POTUS.
We won the last space race and we will win this one too
I left out the little cartoons of a rocket and an American flag from the tweet, but you get the point.
We can all certainly agree with Mr. Duffy’s first point about the Moon landings, but the matter of the new space race is still up in the air. In that regard, he and NASA still have much more to do.
Maybe Ms. Kardashian can use her influence in a more helpful way by pushing for more NASA funding. If she really believes we missed the mark last time, maybe she can help ensure this new space race is a success. Hell, we can even put her name on the side of one of the rocket boosters.
Our Awesome Universe 