bump the moon landing to at least 2025,
according to Nelson.
“The human landing system is a crucial part of our
work to get the first woman and the first person
of color to the lunar surface, and we are getting
geared up to go,” Nelson told reporters.
Officials said technology for new spacesuits also
needs to ramp up, before astronauts can return to
the moon.
NASA’s last lunar landing by astronauts occurred
during Apollo 17 in 1972. Altogether, 12 men
explored the moon’s surface.
During a National Space Council meeting in 2019,
Vice President Mike Pence called for landing
astronauts on the moon within five years “by any
means necessary.” NASA had been shooting for a
lunar landing in 2028, and pushing it up by four
years was considered at the time exceedingly
ambitious, if not improbable.
Congress will need to increase funding, beginning
with the 2023 budget, in order for NASA to have
private companies competing for the planned 10 or
more moon landings by astronauts, Nelson said.
The space agency also is requesting a bigger
budget for its Orion capsules, from $6.7 billion to
$9.3 billion, citing delays during the coronavirus
pandemic and storm damage. Development costs
for the rocket through the first Artemis flight next
year stands at $11 billion.
Vice President Kamala Harris will convene her first
National Space Council meeting, as its chair, on
Dec. 1. Nelson said he updated her on the latest
schedule and costs during their visit to Maryland’s
Goddard Space Flight Center.