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lughnasadh OP t1_itldwue wrote

Submission Statement

These capsules are designed to be partially reusable, and NASA hopes to get 3 missions out of each. They are for the Artemis VI-VIII missions. Artemis V will be the 3rd crew lunar landing of the Artemis program, and is at the lunar south pole, presumably to assess locations for a base. Its proposed Artemis VI-VIII will land components of that lunar base.

Many people wonder how SpaceX will affect these plans. Presumably, its Starship will be in operation in the second half of this decade, and will ultimately render the SLS obsolete.

China is detailing its plans for a base at the lunar south pole on a similar time frame and options to land commercial payloads with lunar landers are starting up too. It seems likely by the time we get to 2030 today's plans might need updating.

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alpha69 t1_itlf9du wrote

I wonder if that jobs program will ever actually lift off.

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3y3sho7 t1_itlfkf3 wrote

Now that all the engineering talent is at space x im concerned this will just be a very expensive firework. Hopefully it wont cost astronauts lives.

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FuturologyBot t1_itli7hv wrote

The following submission statement was provided by /u/lughnasadh:


Submission Statement

These capsules are designed to be partially reusable, and NASA hopes to get 3 missions out of each. They are for the Artemis VI-VIII missions. Artemis V will be the 3rd crew lunar landing of the Artemis program, and is at the lunar south pole, presumably to assess locations for a base. Its proposed Artemis VI-VIII will land components of that lunar base.

Many people wonder how SpaceX will affect these plans. Presumably, its Starship will be in operation in the second half of this decade, and will ultimately render the SLS obsolete.

China is detailing its plans for a base at the lunar south pole on a similar time frame and options to land commercial payloads with lunar landers are starting up too. It seems likely by the time we get to 2030 today's plans might need updating.


Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yccynn/nasa_has_made_a_commitment_to_use_the_sls_for/itldwue/

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Bewaretheicespiders t1_itlkmon wrote

This is "Ballast" Nelson's NASA. Use a failing, obsolete but slow to die program to send as much taxpayer money to his friends in old space before it fails for good. Awful, terrible nomination as NASA's Administrator.

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Huxley077 t1_itlp8xp wrote

Definitely hoping the abort system works, and the astronauts don't get hurt. But sure hoping the system fails to work and is permanently grounded instead of wasting money on this junk. Scrap the whole damn thing , listen to everyone saying this is a waste before committing to more!

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-The_Blazer- t1_itlu8q7 wrote

Isn't it more the senate's fault? I read somewhere that there's a single senator who threatened to filibuster all of NASA's budget if they worked on orbital refueling programs, because those would have made the SLS, which is based in his state, unnecessary.

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Bewaretheicespiders t1_itlvvku wrote

Shelby, former chairman of Nasa's senate appropriation commitee. Im glad he's no longer in charge, but sad that so little has changed. NASA needs an administrator that can push against congress for the good of Nasa and its goals. Not an administrator that is a 80 yo former senator and was part of the problem in Congress (like Nelson).

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Awkward-Event-9452 t1_itmbwcp wrote

Be nice if the rocket could actualy launch, and the capsul was not a death trap.

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Delta4o t1_itn9c3p wrote

It's a giant job creation scam/extortion. They all want jobs (or contracts) for the amount of taxpayer money their state provides. It adds a ton of overhead and bureaucracy to get anything off of the ground (pun not intended).

The moment a space program is canceled it threatens jobs. They'll redirect that into other political decisions and eventually, you'll get space shuttle program version 3.4.216, the "almost to orbit" program.

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cornerblockakl t1_itoswvg wrote

NASA stands for “we are such a bloated government administratioN thAt we are truly juSt throwing good money After bad. Go suck it, taxpayers. Lol

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