NASA
is requesting an additional $1.6 billion in funding for next year to accelerate
its manned mission to the Moon by 2024, which the agency revealed will be
titled Artemis, the New York Times reported on Monday.
Per CNN, NASA emphasized that the agency plans to have the
first female astronaut to set foot on the lunar surface on the Artemis crew. $1
billion of the request would go directly to the “commercial” lunar lander, CNN
wrote, while $651 million would be allocated to the development of the Orion
Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and the repeatedly delayed Space Launch System, NASA’s
in-house rocket program to replace the retired Space Shuttle. “Fifty years
after Apollo, the Artemis program will carry the next man and first woman to
the moon,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said during a press call.
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more here.