HEOMD/ASAP Push Back On White House/9th Floor Moon 2024 Plans

NASA to perform key test of the SLS rocket, necessitating a delay in its launch, Ars Technica

"In a memo shared with senior agency managers earlier this week, NASA's chief of human spaceflight, William Gerstenmaier, said the green run test would proceed. He also acknowledged that the first test flight of the rocket, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), would likely be delayed beyond 2020. "Ultimately, it was my recommendation to the agency that we stay the course with the plan that we have had for many years," Gerstenmaier wrote in the memo, dated April 22, which Ars obtained. "Although there is no certainty in when we launch, I believe this is the best approach to achieving a successful EM-1 flight test and put NASA on the path to achieving an EM-2 crewed mission in 2022 and a Lunar Surface mission in 2024."

Keith's note: At yesterday's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel meeting it was made clear that the ASAP wants NASA to do the SLS Green Test engine firing. This pushes EM-1 back and makes the already sporty plan to land Americans on the Moon by 2024 (at the end of the Trump Administration's potential second term) increasingly improbable.

from NASA Watch http://bit.ly/2Vqcndz
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