It’s a striking condemnation of what’s supposed to be the country’s triumphant lunar return over half a century after the last Apollo mission — and not entirely misplaced either, given NASA’s massive budget overruns and delays.
As a result, the former administrator argued that NASA needs to “restart” its Moon program, but this time without the collaboration of commercial partners.
Griffin’s plan to keep “Artemis on track,” as outlined in a written testimony, involves having NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) deliver a crew of four inside an Orion capsule to the lunar surface and have them stay there for seven Earth days, something that could be completed as soon as 2029.
Even the powerful Block II configuration of the SLS, which would launch the crew, is likely still many years out, given the agency’s current pace.
During his tenure, Griffin also opposed NASA’s commercial program, which ultimately led to the development of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, a cornerstone of the agency’s presence in Earth’s orbit today.
Nonetheless, his criticism is unlikely to completely fly over the heads of lawmakers, who have long been balking at the ballooning costs of NASA’s Artemis program.
The original article contains 426 words, the summary contains 191 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It’s a striking condemnation of what’s supposed to be the country’s triumphant lunar return over half a century after the last Apollo mission — and not entirely misplaced either, given NASA’s massive budget overruns and delays.
As a result, the former administrator argued that NASA needs to “restart” its Moon program, but this time without the collaboration of commercial partners.
Griffin’s plan to keep “Artemis on track,” as outlined in a written testimony, involves having NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) deliver a crew of four inside an Orion capsule to the lunar surface and have them stay there for seven Earth days, something that could be completed as soon as 2029.
Even the powerful Block II configuration of the SLS, which would launch the crew, is likely still many years out, given the agency’s current pace.
During his tenure, Griffin also opposed NASA’s commercial program, which ultimately led to the development of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, a cornerstone of the agency’s presence in Earth’s orbit today.
Nonetheless, his criticism is unlikely to completely fly over the heads of lawmakers, who have long been balking at the ballooning costs of NASA’s Artemis program.
The original article contains 426 words, the summary contains 191 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!