Biden’s NASA still on course for the Moon

Artemis is still pressing forward, though new delays could put a 2024 landing in jeopardy

When new US president Joe Biden took his seat in the Oval Office, he was joined by an unusual companion – an Apollo Moon rock. The lunar relic is currently resting on a bookshelf and is believed to be representation of his administration’s commitment to science.

The change in administration is not just at the White House, however. Jim Bridenstine stepped down from his role as NASA’s administrator on 20 January and is being replaced temporarily by former associate administrator Stephen Jurczyk. This is normal during a change of presidency, as the position is a political one and new Presidents often have a different vision of the direction NASA should be taking during their time in office.

Whoever steps into the role is in for a challenge however, as NASA is currently taking on one of its most ambitious projects yet – Artemis, which aims to put the first woman on the Moon by 2024.

This deadline, however, is looking increasingly precarious. The first mission of the programme, Artemis-1 – which will serve as an orbital trial of both the Orion crew capsule and its heavy launch rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) – had been scheduled for a November 2021 launch. While the Orion capsule is on track to meet that date and was transferred to the Kennedy Space Center on 14 January for final launch preparations, the SLS’s readiness is less certain.

The rocket is already several years behind schedule, but is finally undergoing its ‘Green Run’ test campaign to clear it for flight. But yet more delays during these tests means there is now no more slack in the schedule. Then, on 16 January, a test fire of the rocket engine cut out after one minute rather than the expected eight due to an anomaly in one of the engines. NASA now plans on re-running the test in late February, meaning the Artemis-1 launch will almost certainly be pushed back to early 2022. If so it will be extremely challenging, if not impossible to meet the 2024 deadline for a crewed mission.

As of writing, President Biden had yet to make an official announcement about Artemis, but if his bookshelf is to be believed there seems little risk of its cancellation. US boots will be returning to the Moon – it’s just a question of when. www.nasa.gov

Aiming high: although Artemis-1‘s Orion crew capsule (above) is on track for launch, the progress of the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is less certain To the Moon, and beyond: over the course of the next decade, NASA is aiming to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon