NASA dubs 2024 moon mission ‘Artemis,’ asks for $1.6 billion
Published: 14 May 2019, 5:53:49
“This additional investment, I want to be clear, is a downpayment on NASA’s efforts to land humans on the Moon by 2024,” he said.
Bridenstine said the mission was named Artemis after the Greek mythological goddess of the Moon and twin sister to Apollo, namesake of the program that sent 12 American astronauts to the Moon between 1969 and 1972.
NASA’s total annual budget is approximately $21.5 billion (roughly Rs. 1,51,000 crores), and in the 2019 fiscal year, the agency spent about $4.5 billion on developing the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy rocket and a new lunar orbital mini-station, three elements essential to the Artemis mission.
But many experts and lawmakers are concerned that NASA cannot meet the accelerated deadline, especially given the major delays in development of the SLS, which is being built by aerospace giant Boeing.
Asked how much the new mission would cost in total, Bridenstine demurred, telling a reporter: “I would love to tell you that.”
