NASA needs more money to get astronauts on the moon by 2024
The White House is insisting NASA send astronauts to the moon by 2024, but for that to happen, the agency is going to need more money.
Last week, Vice President Mike Pence said NASA must get humans back on the moon within the next five years, and if they are unable to meet this timetable, "we need to change the agency, not the mission." During a town hall meeting on Monday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told employees the agency is going to need a lot of additional funding, but was otherwise low on details. He did reveal that one plan involves building an outpost called a Gateway that could be placed in orbit around the moon; the problem with that is this doesn't exist yet, and NASA also doesn't have a way to get astronauts back and forth between the Gateway and the lunar surface.
Many of the employees are skeptical that NASA — which had aimed to get astronauts to the moon by 2028 — will be able to make the White House's deadline, The Washington Post reports. "Accelerating our return to the moon is an unfunded mandate," one employee said. "How will we do it without gutting our other important missions?" Bridenstine said he believes the White House will be able to come up with a way to get additional funds over to NASA, adding, "I'm not suggesting there are not holes here. The reality is we're moving quickly, and we're looking at all options. There is nothing off the table."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Cicada-geddon: the fungus that controls insects like 'zombies'
Under The Radar Expert says bugs will develop 'hypersexualisation' despite their genitals falling off
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published