It is now confirmed that NASA may have another lunar lander except for the ship SpaceX spaceship. Actually United States Congress has just approved an amount of 23.849 billion euros as the agency’s budget for the year 2023. amount allocated to the second lunar lander from the program Artemis is included in this amount.
After a botched call that took place in 2020-21, in which SpaceX was the sole winner, Congress asked NASA to find another company to build another lunar lander. At the end of the application period on 6 December two teams participated in the race. It was led by there Blue origin and who has the nickname National team. It consists of Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics. The other team consists of Northrop Grumman and Leidos Dynetics.
Although the second lander was considered, the total budget allocated to NASA is less than the amount requested by White House in March, which was around 24.428 billion euros.
Less money for the scientific branch
According to reports, NASA’s 2023 budget is 5.6% higher than what the agency received in fiscal year 2022. current inflation can complicate things. NASA’s exploration program and space operations got the full amount requested, but the science arm did not.
In total, scientific research achieved 7.323 billion euros, which is almost 187.9 million euros less than the requested amount. Planetary science and heliophysics received slightly more, while astrophysics, earth science, physical and biological science received less.
The case of the Near Earth Object Surveyor
The mission Near Earth Object Surveyor is one of those who have had a good time. This project has actually been given a budget of 84.5 million euros, which is more than twice the requested amount. The goal would be to send the mission into space as quickly as possible. On December 6, NASA also announced that the mission had passed a key decision point as part of its launch into space.
Also on this mission, Congress expressed concern that NASA had decided to delay the launch until 2028. It was pointed out that the space agency was behind on its commitment to detect 90% of objects, about 140 mi in diameter.
Either way, NASA will have a lot to do in the coming year. Things must be accelerated in order to send the first astronauts to the surface of the Moon in 2025.
SOURCE: Space.com
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