WASHINGTON: Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine announced at a congressional testimony on Tuesday a plan to put human to Mars by 2033 and would request more money to fund the ambitious plan.
It came after Nasa’s new schedule to land American astronauts on the moon by 2024, four years ahead of its previous schedule, an aggressive plan US Vice President Mike Pence called a “stated policy of this administration,” but American lawmakers worried Nasa couldn’t meet the deadline.
Pence urged Nasa last week to return American astronauts to the moon within five years, warning that if Nasa cannot do it, it is Nasa, not the mission, that must change.
Bridenstine cited at the congressional hearing on Nasa’s budget in fiscal year 2020 the goal of putting astronauts on Mars by 2033 as a reason why Nasa need to accelerate the Moon landing plan.
The Nasa chief said so in response to US congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson’s question why the country need a “crash programme for the moon.”
“The moon is the proving ground,” said Bridenstine. “We can move up the Mars landing by moving up the Moon landing.”
However, Nasa’s delayed development of its new heavy-lift rocket the Space Launch System (SLS) may mean additional difficulties for realising these goals on time.
Also, SLS’s replacement options or buying commercial rockets like Delta IV heavy rockets and Space X’s Falcon Heavy are now technically challenged in terms of thrust capability, launchpad availability and docking ability, according to Bridenstine
when addressing a town hall meeting on Monday. — IANS
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
