Lawmaker who helps fund NASA questions the agency’s 2024 lunar deadline – The Verge

In a hearing on Wednesday, Rep. José Serrano (D-NY), chairman of the House subcommittee that appropriates funds for NASA, cited the prospective astronomical expense of the space company’s lunar program. “Another concern that I have is a lack of a major validation for such a cost because NASA has actually already set the lunar landing mission for 2028,” Serrano said in the hearing. As a result, NASA revamped its human lunar expedition strategies to fit the more challenging due date, and it called the initiative Artemis. To jump-start the Artemis program, the Trump administration asked for an extra $1.6 billion for NASA, on top of the $21 billion that it already requested for 2020. He also revealed concern over the possibility of programs within and outside NASA getting cut to fund Artemis.

In a hearing on Wednesday, Rep. José Serrano (D-NY), chairman of the House subcommittee that appropriates funds for NASA, pointed out the possible huge expense of the space agency’s lunar program. “Another concern that I have is an absence of a severe justification for such an expense considering that NASA has currently configured the lunar landing objective for 2028,” Serrano said in the hearing. To jump-start the Artemis program, the Trump administration asked for an additional $1.6 billion for NASA, on top of the $21 billion that it currently requested for 2020.

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