spacetoday.net: NASA offers details on 2024 lunar landing plans

Posted: Sat, May 4, 2019, 11:00 AM ET (1500 GMT)
NASA is providing more details about how it thinks it can achieve a human lunar landing by 2024, but the budget remains uncertain. In a presentation Tuesday, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said he envisions astronauts going to the moon on Exploration Mission (EM) 3, after the uncrewed EM-1 test flight of the SLS and Orion in late 2020 or 2021 and the crewed EM-2 test in 2022. That approach will likely include a "minimal" lunar Gateway, as well as landing systems to be developed by industry in an upcoming procurement. He didn't give an estimated budget for carrying our that approach, and other officials said a revised budget request is still under development within the administration. In Senate testimony Wednesday, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said that budget is not ready yet, but refuted reports the agency is seeking an additional $8 billion a year for five years.