The NASA insight landing on Mars. (Photo: Getty Images/VNA)
Technological billionaire Jared Isaacman, who has just been appointed by President Donald Trump at the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States, said that the mission of sending American astronauts to Mars would be the absolute priority of his mandate.
However, he also stressed the strategic importance of the moon in the space conquest.
“The return of the Americans to Mars will be our absolute priority,” said Isaamman in a declaration to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transport Commission, upstream of a hearing scheduled for April 9. “During this trip, we will continue to develop our ability to return to the Moon, while assessing the scientific, economic and national security advantages of a presence on the lunar surface. »»
Jared Isaacman is a technological entrepreneur who caused a sensation with the first commercial space flight in 2021.
According to American media, he reassured the senators at a meeting last week by saying that the return of humans on the Moon remained a “national imperative”.
This announcement aims to appease the concerns of certain legislators according to which the emphasis on Mars – defended by President Trump and the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk – will eclipse the current lunar program.
In fact, the Artemis program – an effort to send humans back to the moon – was launched during Mr. Trump’s first term.
The objective of the program is to make the moon a “springboard” for deeper space missions, especially towards Mars.
Now that Mr. Trump has returned to the White House and that Mr. Isaacman benefits from the strong support of Mr. Musk, NASA’s strategic orientation could be reorganized to focus more on the red planet.
However, this also raises a big question: does it prioritize Mars means minimizing the role of the Artemis program, or is it simply a strategic rebalancing with Mars becoming central in long-term planning?
NASA has now invested billions of dollars in Artemis, mobilizing the cooperation of many allied nations and dozens of private companies – including SpaceX – in order to build a long -term economic ecosystem on the Moon.
But the recent declarations of Mr. Trump according to which “Mars is the future”, combined with the opinion of Mr. Musk that “the Moon is a distraction”, make the future of the lunar program uncertain.
In addition, traditional NASA subcontractors such as Boeing and Northrop Grumman have also been criticized several times by Mr. Musk.
This makes the spell of Space Launch System (SLS) even more uncertain – the main rocket of the Artemis program.
The project cost more than $ 20 billion and this figure should double during future missions.
Until now, the SLS has only made one launch – an unmanned test flight in 2022 – after years late.
During the hearing, Mr. Isaacman did not hesitate to criticize the slowness of progress and the exceeding of the NASA budget.
“It is discouraging to note that most NASA programs are late and exceed the planned budget,” he said.
This takes inspiration from the public – who always wants to look up to the sky and dream of miracles that await him, not in a few decades.
Source : https://www.vietnamplus.vn/lanh-dao-moi-cua-nasa-uu-tien-su-menh-dua-nguoi-my-len-sao-hoa-post1026684.vnp
