#Tag · 𑐴𑐶𑐟𑐶

📆 2019 A senior #NASA official had opened the door to NASA flying its first crewed 👩‍🚀 missions to the #Moon 🌙 on a #FalconHeavy rocket 🚀 built by #SpaceX https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/nasa-chief-says-a-falcon-heavy-rocket-could-fly-humans-to-the-moon/

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When Mr Bridenstine suggested in 2019 that America could return to the Moon 🌙 using #SpaceX’s #FalconHeavy, he provoked a row with Richard #Shelby, a senator from #Alabama who was then chairman of the Senate appropriations committee. Welcoming the #SLS in 2011, Mr Shelby said that #NASA’s exploration of space, “has always been and always will be through Marshall Space Flight Centre [in #Alabama].” https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2022/08/24/nasas-space-launch-system-is-yesterdays-rocket

"Political and #aerospace interests were more than reluctant to embrace any changes which they viewed as a threat to their own hegemony."
The mainstream media doesn’t cover #SpaceExploration and #SpaceScience with the same questioning 🔍 rigor that they reserve for #politics. People writing about space exploration are mostly cheerleaders 🥳 for the cause, rather than independent observers keeping a watchful eye on how our national monies 💰 are spent. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2022/06/23/new-book-paints-bleak-picture-of-nasas-human-spaceflight-program/

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@lori_garver “It got funded as a rocket to nowhere, and we at #NASA had to figure out something to do with it”.
The #rocket is #unsustainable by design, relying on an old and potentially quite expensive 💰 way to get to #space 🌌. Much of #SLS is a holdover from the #SpaceShuttle. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/01/09/1065143/nasa-artemis-return-to-moon

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#SpaceX’s #FalconHeavy costs well north of $100 million 💵 per launch. The #SLS about $4 billion 💰💰💰💰 per launch https://www.astronomy.com/space-exploration/by-the-numbers-the-space-launch-system-nasas-next-moon-rocket/

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