Going to the Moon was always viewed as a near-impossible feat, to the point that a large contingent of skeptics continues to believe that one of humanity’s greatest feats simply didn’t happen despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary. NASA’s return to the lunar surface is being made even more difficult by the Trump administration. Despite the White House’s desire to cancel the Space Launch System, the Artemis program’s primary launch vehicle, NASA continues to test the rocket as recently as Thursday.
NASA tested new SLS hardware twice over the last week for Moon missions that might never happen, Ars Technica reports. Last Friday, test-fired a hydrogen-fueled RS-25 rocket in Mississippi that would be used in the SLS core stage for Artemis V in 2030, the program’s third lunar landing. Thursday’s test in Utah featured a new solid rocket booster that would debut as a part of the SLS Block 2 rocket for Artemis IX in 2034. The additional 8,900 pounds of payload capacity provided by Block 2 would be used to supply the fledgling moonbase and support a permanent human presence on the Moon.
SLS never saved the dollars many hoped it would
The booster test at Northrop Grumman’s site at Promontory, Utah went awry during the uncontrolled burn. Live-stream footage appears to show the exhaust burning away part of the rocket until it disintegrated just above the nozzle. The rocket’s failure wasn’t contained to just the test stand, as the flames spread to the surrounding hills.
The most significant selling point of the SLS will likely be its downfall. The cost-effective appeal of recycling components from the Space Shuttle to reach the Moon was a dream that created more headaches than the dollars saved. This became even more problematic after Elon Musk bankrolled Trump’s campaign for a second term while claiming that a SpaceX lunar program could be faster and cheaper with zero evidence to back up that posturing.
While Musk believes the idea of returning to the Moon is dumb, the cancellation of SLS would be Artemis’ demise, as contracts would likely be doled out for a commercial launch provider. This is occurring while NASA is facing a massive $6 billion budget cut, which will force the agency to reduce its staff by 32%. Employees are already being encouraged to take early buyouts or retire early, like their colleagues at other government agencies.
