Mastodawn

NASA is hosting a day-long set of panels and briefings at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. to describe its plans for "colonizing" the moon and to "achieve President Donald J. Trump’s National Space Policy and advance American leadership in space."

We wonder if the event is intended for an audience of one.

Nice graphics. Any bets on the likelihood of meeting these ambitious goals in 2028?

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-unveils-initiatives-to-achieve-americas-national-space-policy/

Video for the first event at 9:00 EDT is at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlTwwJv1Ac
1/n

AkaSci 🛰️13h ago

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman:

"First we clear the barriers inside NASA.
Then we move."

What barriers are we planning to remove? NASA scientists?
🤔
2/n

AkaSci 🛰️13h ago

This graphic from the webcast has a significantly different timeline and states the dates as starting points for the various phases.

Presented by Carlos Garcia-Galan, program executive, Moon Base. He was Deputy Manager for the lunar Gateway Program, which has now been terminated; parts of the program will now be repurposed for lunar landing missions.

3/n

AkaSci 🛰️10h ago

Here is an unbelievable graphic from the webcast showing planned launches and assets deployed on the moon, starting in 2026 with 2 landers!

All for the low low price of $10B across 3-4 years.

A lot is planned for 2027 and 2028. We wonder why?

BTW - the first moon landing using Artemis IV is currently planned for early 2028.
🤔
4/n

AkaSci 🛰️2h ago

Names of past and current NASA Mars missions -
Pathfinder
Spirit
Opportunity
Discovery
Insight
Perseverance
Ingenuity

Names of future missions -
SR-1 Freedom
Skyfall

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman today -
"We will never give up an opportunity to go to Mars."
"America will never give up the Moon again."
"(we will) do whatever it takes to return to the Moon and never surrender it again."

trumpism infects NASA plus Space Jingoism 😠
5/n

Joseph Shoer 1h ago

@AkaSci "Discovery?"

AkaSci 🛰️1h ago

@jpshoer
The NASA Insight lander mission was named Discovery 12.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Program
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars

Discovery Program - Wikipedia

ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘1h ago

@AkaSci As far as I can tell, America does not own the moon.

Bob Tregilus 9h ago

@AkaSci I am 100 percent in support of robotic space missions and 100 percent opposed to human space flight. Robots are quicker, cheaper, better, and safer. Human space flight is all about hubris--at great expense--and nothing else.

mespique 13h ago

They lost the key to the design room.

GrumpyDad 🇺🇦🇵🇸13h ago

@AkaSci He's mentioning more science so the only thing I can think of is safety

@AkaSci Landers on a monthly cadence, starting 2027? That’s a lot of barriers to be moved, but also a lot of stuff to be built.

random thoughts 13h ago

Am I the only one remembering the **huge** amount of hardware, including rovers, built and discarded during the last 25 years virtually every single time a president changed?

random thoughts 13h ago

2008 to 2015. Wonder what happened in 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Exploration_Vehicle

Space Exploration Vehicle - Wikipedia

random thoughts 13h ago

Now we're back to a glorified golf-caddy in space, virtually no better than the Apollo rovers.

random thoughts 13h ago

@AkaSci
Let me guess - health and safety?

Skjeggtroll 13h ago

@hittitezombie @AkaSci

Reality keeps getting in the way, so obviously anyone who sides with Reality on any matter has got to go.

Eric Jennings 13h ago

@AkaSci Seems the biggest barrier is usually the Senate dictating hardware decisions instead of letting NASA pick.

@AkaSci most likely a lot of Chestertons fences labeled “safety” and “reliability”

Schreibmax 13h ago

@AkaSci Something to do with logic or anything to do with risk management, I guess.

Urwumpe 13h ago

@AkaSci More Greencards for Nazi Engineers?

Mistheart 12h ago

@AkaSci the barrier is, as It always has been, money.

Good luck trying to do everything with less money, as they will cut in testing (as expected).

Mastodon Migration 13h ago

That's an awful lot of really big spaceships.