Excerpts:
The Horse's Mouth [ with apologies to Joyce Carry ]
NASA Unveils Initiatives to Achieve America’s National Space Policy [ General outline, no real specifics ]
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-unveils-initiatives-to-achieve-americas-national-space-policy/--
NASA Streams
https://www.youtube.com/@NASA/streams--
NASA's Plan for The Moon - Jared Isaacman [ specific details, including Mars ] 2 hr
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlTwwJv1AcAdmits that China will likely be on the Moon before any NASA effort. ... we are standardizing the SLS architecture with the Centaur 5 upper stage. We're rebuilding and focusing expertise on ML1 pad turnaround and establishing the muscle memory required to support a higher launch cadence ...
Artemis 2 ... will send NASA and a CSA astronaut into the lunar environment, the first crewed step of the Artemis program to pick up where Gene Harrison and Ronald left off on Apollo 17 ...
We intend to launch Artemis 3 in 2027 to test the integrated operations of Orion and one or both lunar landers in Earth orbit. What we learn from that mission will ideally give us the confidence to begin lunar landing attempts, starting with
Artemis 4 in 2028. ...
I'm pleased with the proposals from both SpaceX and Blue Origin to accelerate progress on their landers. As I've told both of our valued partners alongside Axiom on the EVA suit development, NASA is here to help to provide expertise to clear obstacles to challenge requirements where appropriate...
... this time the goal is not flags and footprints. This time the goal is to stay.
Today, we are providing a demand signal for frequent crewed missions well beyond Artemis 5. We intend to work with no fewer than 2 launch providers [ SpaceX & Blue Origin ], with the aim of crewed landings every 6 months, with additional opportunities for new entrants in the years ahead. America will never again give up the moon. That brings us to the next step building the moon base.
... It's really the proving ground for future Mars initiatives does not preclude revisiting the orbital outpost [ Lunar Gateway ].
We will invest approximately $20 billion over the next 7 years [ just under $3 billion a year ] and build it through dozens of missions ...
Orbital Economy
NASA cannot force an orbital economy to exist, but we will certainly do all we can to ignite one. Science and discovery remains at the heart of NASA's mission. Today, we'll provide updates on exciting flagship efforts like Roman and Dragonfly, alongside new initiatives like DaVinci bonus scientific payloads on the Mars Telecommunications Network and Rideshares, designed to expand the pace of discovery. Public private partnerships will turn NASA into a force multiplier for science.
Beyond Earth
After decades of study and billions spent on concepts that have never left Earth, America will finally get underway on nuclear power and space. We will launch the first of its kind interplanetary mission named SR 1 Freedom, before the end of 2028 demonstrate fusion power and the extraordinary capabilities to move mass efficiently in space.
When Freedom reaches Mars a year after launch, it will release the Skyfall Payload of Ingenuity Class Copters to continue to explore the Red planet. This Pathfinder effort will open opportunities for commercial fusion [ ???? ] power providers, be that propulsion surface applications, and ultimately unlock the capabilities necessary for sustained exploration beyond the moon and missions to Mars and the outer solar system ...
Rebuilding NASA
We are rebuilding NASA's core competencies. We are converting thousands of contractor positions to civil service and restoring the engineering, technical and operational strengths expected of the world's most accomplished space agency. We are expanding opportunities for interns and early career professionals in partnership with OPM and NASA force.
We are creating pathways for experienced talent from industry to serve at NASA through term based appointments ... Undertaking the near impossible should be extraordinarily difficult. It will require competence, ownership, dedication and a great sense of urgency.
We will recognize and reward only the hard working contributors who deliver the intended outcomes ... We will challenge the status quo where appropriate and help solve problems and pull in production.
But to be very clear, we are not going to sit idly by when schedules slip or budgets are exceeded. Expect uncomfortable action if that is what it takes.
Accountability
The taxpayers and their representatives in Congress should demand accountability from every vendor, every leader, every CEO. If those expectations are not met, I know you all understand the message that's being delivered, and please know that I will be in the field ...
--
Next Speaker
Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Doctor Lori Glaze.
See previous post's slide
... Artemis 3 is now being replanned as an earth orbit test flight, demonstrating integrated launches with rendezvous and docking demonstrations with one or both of the lander providers ... 21 day mission.
Artemis 4 will perform the first crewed landing in early 2028, and Artemis five is targeted later in 2028 to further accelerate towards establishing the lunar base.
Artemis 2 launches April 1st - 6th ... 4 attempts possible. No current problems they are working. Flight Readiness Review (FRR) passed March 11-12. Details the Artemis 2 flight plan.
Artemis 3: details readiness. [ Here's where SpaceX/Blue Origin come in ]
The goal for this mission is for Orion to dock with one or both of those landers ... StarShip v3 is a major step towards the lunar landing capability ... the Blue Origin Mark 1, which is their predecessor to the Mark 2 human lander. They've invested a great deal in the Mark 1 lander and anticipate launching that within a few months.
The 2028 landing mission will land at the Lunar South Pole 84-90 degrees. 2 of the 4 will spend around 5 of the 7 day lunar operation on the surface, exiting from either the SpaceX or the Blue Moon Mk2 lander. Near Lunar orbit possible.
SpaceX has been considering alternative alternatives of their current Starship design of the HLS Starship design, while implementing a more streamlined approach to try and speed things up and pull things forward. The Blue Origin approach implements existing capabilities that they have today, as a stepping stone toward their eventual full capacity architecture.
Artemis 5 landing mission in late 2028.
--
New Speaker
NASA Moon Base program executive Carlos Garcia Galan.
... we're going to basically shift those [ hardware capabilities, facilities ] to be focusing directly on what is what we're going to do on the surface of the moon ...
... we're going to have to deploy systems in very high cadence that will survive extremes in temperature, illumination, and very complex and rugged terrain with very steep slopes and everything that we're going to want to do in the moon. Unfortunately, it's hard to get to. So all of these things we're going to have to do together and eventually support permanent astronaut habitation there, which is no small feat.
