Source: Space News
The underlying message to NASA seems to be: get Space Launch System intended to replace the Shuttle finally working or we're going to give it entirely to private companies (though they don't really have anything that can do it either yet). There's also some plans of a Lunar Gateway to Mars, which are a bit more out there.Space News said:WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence directed NASA to return humans to the surface of the moon by 2024, a dramatic acceleration of the agency's human space exploration plans but a directive accompanied by few technical or fiscal details.
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Pence went so far as to direct where that landing will take place. "To reach the moon in the next five years we must select our destinations now," he said. "NASA already knows that the lunar south pole holds great scientific, economic and strategic value, but now it's time to commit to go there."
That schedule would require a major acceleration of many elements of NASA's plans, which previously called for landing humans on the moon by 2028. Among them is the SLS, the heavy-lift rocket whose continued delays led NASA to consider shifting the next uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft to commercial vehicle
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