Thread by @thesheetztweetz

NASA is hosting an update on its lunar Artemis program, with:

Admin @SenBillNelson
Deputy admin @Astro_Pam
Assoc. admin @KathyLueders
Assoc. admin @JimFree

Livestream:

@SenBillNelson @Astro_Pam @KathyLueders @JimFree Nelson begins by saying he spoke to SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell last Friday after the HLS lawsuit ruling.

"The decision by the court ... means progress for the Artemis program."

@SenBillNelson @Astro_Pam @KathyLueders @JimFree Nelson: "Before we can give a detailed look at the HLS readiness timeframe, I want to give a shout out to our legal team as well as to the Department of Justice lawyers."

@SenBillNelson @Astro_Pam @KathyLueders @JimFree Nelson: "Having taken a good look under the hood these past 6 months, it's clear to me that the agency will need to make serious changes for the long term success" of the Artemis program.

@SenBillNelson @Astro_Pam @KathyLueders @JimFree Nelson says NASA is committing to "an updated Orion development cost of $9.3 billion from fiscal year '21 through the first crewed flight test no later than May 2024."

@SenBillNelson @Astro_Pam @KathyLueders @JimFree Nelson: "We want to streamline the SLS production operations and we're going to consolidate multiple SLS contracts into a single production operations contract.

NASA is also "consulting with industry on the feasibility of having a long term service provider for the rocket."

@SenBillNelson @Astro_Pam @KathyLueders @JimFree Melroy: "I do believe that many of the first time development challenges on SLS and Orion are nearly behind us."

@SenBillNelson @Astro_Pam @KathyLueders @JimFree Lueders: Although NASA has "been on hold" due to the Blue Origin lawsuit, "the SpaceX folks have continued to make progress."

NASA is increasing its baseline development cost for the Orion capsule to $9.3 billion from $6.7 billion.

Nelson: "The Chinese space program, which includes the Chinese military, give us indications that they are going to be very aggressive" in pursuing a moon landing with taikonauts.

Free says NASA's projected development cost for the SLS rocket through the Artemis 1 mission is $11 billion.

Nelson says he has briefed VP Harris on the update Artemis timeline and required additional funding.