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News of a rise and fall for the US space program came this week in the wake of NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine’s admission that he would not continue work under US President-elect Joe Biden.
Four astronauts are headed up at the International Space Station (ISS) this weekend in the first newly certified crew vehicle in decades, as US Congressional lawmakers turned down a request that Bridenstine said would allow him to keep his personal promise.
As Washington, D.C. has begun to regroup for political transition, Bridenstine told Aviation Week Daily defense on November 8 that would not continue under Biden.
Arguably the most consequential is a new development for Bridenstine’s legacy: Senate members may have dealt the final blow to Bridenstine’s most publicized goal: to get US astronauts back to the lunar surface by 2024.
Riding the wave of nostalgia leading to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Bridenstine announced the # Moon2024 goal in March 2019 along with US Vice President Mike Pence.
Their plan would launch the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket this year, sending an unmanned Orion capsule around the moon and back on a mission that became known as Artemis 1, followed later by a manned mission in lunar orbit. and culminating in a human landing on the surface of the Moon in 2024 – notoriously by at least one man and woman – in the final year of a second Trump presidency.
Bridenstine inherently tied goal # Moon2024 to a second Trump term, saying the strategy would “withdraw political risk” into the program – risk like when the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administration canceled the George administration’s Constellation program. W. Bush who also planned to bring astronauts back to the moon.
After stepping down from her seat in the House of Representatives to take up the post of NASA administrator, Bridenstine is seen as bipartisan support during her tenure, but Congress doesn’t look like she’ll be coming for # Moon2024.
Although Bridenstine told senators in September that NASA would need more than $ 3 billion in fiscal year 2021 to build lunar landers quickly enough to reach the target, even the Trump-loyal Senate has signaled that it probably won’t. agree with the idea. A committee recommended on November 10 to fund just $ 1 billion of that, potentially solidifying Bridenstine’s legacy.
In the meantime, he has been fortunate as an administrator to take part in some historic milestones, including the events surrounding SpaceX’s manned test flight of his Crew Dragon capsule. SpaceX built the capsule as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which began under the Obama administration.
NASA also announced on November 10 that it has certified the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for the legal transport of humans, paving the way for regular trips to the ISS.
Other memorable aspects of Bridenstine’s time at NASA included a social media squabble with Elon Musk over priorities; the near-disastrous unmanned test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule; and a popular increase in private sector contracts for lunar exploration.
When first asked to approve Bridenstine’s appointment as administrator, some members of Congress objected to the assignment to appoint a NASA politician. As Bridenstine said Aviation Week, Politics also dictated his decision to step aside:
“Whoever the president is, he has to have someone they know and trust and someone the administration trusts. That person won’t be me, “he said.
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