The US government plans to send people to the moon after 5 years

Source: NASA

Yesterday, US Vice President Mike Pence announced that the presidential administration plans to bring people back to the moon within five years. At the same time, NASA previously planned to carry out a manned mission to the Earth’s satellite no earlier than 2028. Pence stressed that the administration views this goal as extremely important.

He urged NASA to accept new circumstances and adhere to the set time frame. In order to achieve this goal, Pence admitted that it was possible to abandon work on some projects of NASA subcontractors in terms of developing missiles in favor of commercial "space transport".

"If rockets made by private companies are the only opportunity for American astronauts to return to the moon over the next five years, then we will use these rockets," said Pence. According to him, efficiency in compliance with the plans should be the main factor that needs to be taken into account.
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It is worth noting that the presidential administration announced the need to make the lunar program a priority from the very beginning of the Donald Trump presidency. The latter considers the flight to Mars not the most important task, but Trump regards returning to the Moon as one of the priorities.

One of the highlights of the lunar program is the creation of the Moon’s orbital station, which would serve as a transit point for astronauts descending to the surface of the Earth’s satellite and returning to Earth. Such an orbital station could simplify the study of the moon by people and become the first stage in the implementation of the plan to create a colony of people.


This may look like the orbital lunar station Gateway. Source: NASA

As for the mention of rockets developed by private companies, it is not at all accidental. The fact is that NASA is developing its SLS super-heavy rocket, which can be called a long-term project. And by 2022, when the Trump administration plans to start building the lunar orbital station, SLS will not be ready. In addition to long-term, this rocket is also very expensive - both in the manufacture and operation. Thus, the presidential administration directly says that the Moon will have to fly on one of the rockets manufactured by NASA partners - SpaceX or Boeing.

NASA does not give up - after the statement by the US Vice President, the agency representative said that the work on the creation of SLS will be accelerated and by 2024 (landing of astronauts on the moon) the rocket will be ready. Moreover, the first tests will be performed much earlier. “I’m sure we will be able to launch a rocket as early as 2020, and send a capsule with a team on a flight around the moon,” said Jim Brydenstein from NASA.

Unfortunately, it is not yet clear exactly what will happen with the plans to create an SLS. Yes, the presidential administration of the project itself is clearly not too like But if the SLS is canceled, then it will be necessary to radically rebuild the agency’s plans for the development of near-Earth space. This will not happen if NASA is still able to build its rocket quickly - but then the question of price arises, since launching the SLS is much more expensive than launching analogs from Boeing and SpaceX. Both companies are not standing still, trying to build their rockets as quickly as possible.


This may look like the takeoff of a super heavy SLS rocket. Source: NASA

Be that as it may, even if NASA plans to change the plans by speeding up the implementation of the project to create the SLS rocket, it will have to go through the process of approving the updated plans in the US Congress.

As for the plans of the administration, Pence admits that they are very ambitious. But here he proposes to recall the statement of John Kennedy, made by him in 1962 . Being then the president of the United States, Kennedy also declared the need to reach the moon within a few years. At that time, many people criticized these plans for their complexity and high cost of the project, but the project was implemented. Pence believes that despite the criticism, the new space program developed by the presidential administration will also be implemented.

The plans of the administration of the President of the United States so far remain just plans - until such time as they are approved by the US Congress. If this does not happen, the project with the SLS from NASA with the previous time frame will remain in force.