To the Moon by 2024?
Fifty years after NASA first landed astronauts on the Moon, they are gearing up to do it again. The president and vice president have stated that the United States will return to the Moon by 2024: just five years from now. And NASA says it can make that happen. Here, btw takes a closer look.
Why So Fast?
The original timetable to return to the Moon had a goal of getting there by 2028. But the president, concerned about the possibility of a new “space race” with China and Russia, recently bumped the deadline up by five years. (One thing that will be different this time around? NASA has stated that this time, the crew will include female members.)
Is It Possible?
The White House’s five-year timetable is undoubtedly short. But NASA says it has the ability, drive, and technology to make it happen. Ultimately, the Moon landing project will be a public-private partnership. NASA has already announced its decision to pay a private space company $45.5 million to build a Moon Lander for the planned 2024 moon landing.
Finding the Funding
NASA says that all it needs now is the funding to make the dream of a Moon landing a reality. In response, Trump asked Congress for an additional $1.6 billion on top of NASA’s usual annual budget of $21 billion as a “down payment” toward speeding up the process. But the House Appropriations Committee denied their request.
Instead, Congress agreed to add an additional $1.3 million to NASA’s annual budget–but not for Trump’s “space race.” Instead of earmarking the money for space exploration as the White House requested, the majority of the funds will go toward supporting various Earth sciences programs, STEM education, and to support scientific research to address climate change. House members say that the lack of specific details about how the accelerated Moon landing program would work was what kept them from voting to fund it more heavily.
Is Mars Next?
According to NASA scientists, once the Moon landing occurs, the plan is to set up a permanent presence on the Moon, thoroughly explore and investigate its resources, and then from there, move on to Mars. The timeline for the arrival of human beings on the Red Planet? Some say that if the U.S. can make it to the Moon by 2024 as planned, we could see the first walk on Mars by the 2030s.
While some scientists have expressed excitement about this plan of using the Moon as a “stepping stone” to Mars, others have expressed doubt over whether or not this plan will actually work–especially now that Congress has denied funding to the Moon landing project. These experts agree that humans can make it to the Red Planet, but that the goal of the 2030s is still well out of our reach.