NASA has made no secret of its desire to return humans to the Moon by 2024, but a series of setbacks have put the mission in doubt. Last week, US Congress revealed NASA would not get the budget the space firm craved, with no increase of the 2020 annual budget of $22.63 billion (£17.8bn) for the 2020/21 financial year.
Earlier this year, the NASA human spaceflight chief Doug Loverro, who has since stepped down, said the space agency would need at least an additional $35bn (£27.6bn) in funding over the next four years, on top of what they were already designated.
According to NASA, the space agency has been designated $682 million (£539 million) for its human landing system (HLS) mission, something which NASA officials described as a “first step” in the funding, hoping it will receive more in the future.
Mr Loverro’s replacement, Kathy Lueders, revealed NASA may have been a bit overzealous in its ambitions.
Speaking to reporters on a teleconference call, Ms Lueders said in answer to questions over whether NASA would be able to achieve its goal: “I don’t have a crystal ball.
“I wish I knew that answer. That’d make my job a lot easier. We’re going to try.
“It’s very important to have an aggressive goal.
“We had an aggressive goal in commercial crew, and I think that aggressive goal ensured that we were able to accomplish things as quickly as we could.
“But I also think what’s important is when you come across technical challenges … you’re focused on making sure you’re achieving your aggressive goal in the right manner.”
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“If things come up along the way, where technically it takes us longer, then we’ll go figure it out. But right now the team’s trying. It is tough.”
The first astronauts to make it to the lunar surface would be tasked with helping to create a Moon colony and laboratory, which would act as a stepping point to Mars.
The base would be used as a checkpoint between Earth and Mars while also allowing astronauts to study the Moon in close detail.
NASA had been hoping to get the first ever humans on Mars in the 2030s, but this would be nigh on impossible if they were not able to complete its Moon mission.