Senate hearing raises doubts of Artemis
Posted: Sat, Sep 6, 2025, 8:50 AM ET (1250 GMT)
A former NASA administrator warned that it was “highly unlikely” NASA would return astronauts to the moon before China landed astronauts there. Testifying at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday, former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said his doubts stemmed from the very complex Artemis architecture, particularly the Starship lunar lander. “This is an architecture that no NASA administrator that I’m aware of would have selected if they had a choice,” said Bridenstine, who left NASA a few months before the agency awarded SpaceX the Human Landing System contract. He and other witnesses emphasized the importance of Artemis landing astronauts before a Chinese mission anticipated by 2030, while also maintaining a human presence in low Earth orbit.
A former NASA administrator warned that it was “highly unlikely” NASA would return astronauts to the moon before China landed astronauts there. Testifying at a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday, former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said his doubts stemmed from the very complex Artemis architecture, particularly the Starship lunar lander. “This is an architecture that no NASA administrator that I’m aware of would have selected if they had a choice,” said Bridenstine, who left NASA a few months before the agency awarded SpaceX the Human Landing System contract. He and other witnesses emphasized the importance of Artemis landing astronauts before a Chinese mission anticipated by 2030, while also maintaining a human presence in low Earth orbit.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
NASA to launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in September
Posted: Sat, Apr 25 10:54 AM ET (1454 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, April 26
OCCAM Space and The Exploration Company Partner on Separation System for Nyx Capsule
Occam Space — 11:55 am ET (1555 GMT) New simulations reveal the cold, dusty reality of galaxy formation
Netherlands Research School for Astronomy — 11:55 am ET (1555 GMT) MDA Space unveils space control platform MDA Midnight™, designed to defend and protect the space domain
PR Newswire — 11:54 am ET (1554 GMT) Voyager Unlocks Satellite Propulsion Production at Scale
Voyager Space — 11:53 am ET (1553 GMT) Sceye Completes Historic 12-Day, 6,400 Mile Stratospheric Flight, Advancing a New Layer of Infrastructure for Humanity
PR Newswire — 11:51 am ET (1551 GMT) |
