The new US administration is forcing a rethink among international partner space agencies, by suggesting plans for lunar exploration are a waste of time, and the Artemis program should be dropped.
https://europeanspaceflight.substack.com/p/does-europe-have-an-off-ramp-from?
3 Comments
Submission Statement
The US has voted for someone who likes to govern via chaos. We’ve seen it since they took office, and we can assume that is how the next 4 years, and maybe longer will be.
Chaos has consequences, and one area that may soon be felt is space exploration. With regard to the Moon, there’s currently two large-scale efforts. NASA’s Artemis program, and China’s plans to build an International Lunar Research Station at the Moon’s south pole. As Elon Musk is now the de facto leader of America’s space exploration, is it his plans that will take precedence? He says the Artemis program is a waste of time and the US should focus on going to Mars instead.
All of this has consequences – US partner space agencies from Europe, Japan and Canada are all spending billions on their parts of the Artemis program. Is there any point any more? What alternatives do they have, for not just lunar exploration, but replacing the aging International Space Station.
One thing seems likely, they won’t want to spend billions of their taxpayer’s money on chaos.
Let me guess: Mars is a go and all funding is being funneled toward SpaceX.
He is literally just cutting everything to make his friends stay rich with those 2017 cuts happening again. while we’re wanting to progress and do cool shit with tech we’ve got old fossils who refuse to kick the bucket to keep making lives hell with tax cuts 👎