Starting momentarily is a House space subcommittee hearing on NASA’s Artemis program. Webcast, in all its 480p glory:
Subcommittee chair Rep. Beyer (D-Va.): Artemis is facing serious challenges: delays, cost growth and a “confusing mishmash” of contract types.
Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Babin (R-Texas): we have the correct goal and the right path, but waiting on the right plan.
Science committee ranking member Rep. Lucas (R-Okla.): NASA needs to give us an updated plan, schedule and realistic budget. Artemis must be NASA’s highest priority.
GAO’s William Russell: schedule for Artemis 3 (no earlier than 2025) remains challenging, including schedule risk for HLS because of 7-month delay starting program.
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel chair Patricia Sanders reiterates the panel’s past recommendations, including a single manager for Artemis (something Lucas also called for in his remarks.)
NASA inspector general Paul Martin: we estimate first four Artemis missions to cost $4.1B each, which strikes us as unsustainable. Expect crewed lunar landing to slip to at least 2026.
Beyer: why don’t we have a clear strategy at NASA for Artemis?
Daniel Dumbacher, AIAA: need a clear story and understanding; understand the agency is working on that.
Daniel Dumbacher, AIAA: need a clear story and understanding; understand the agency is working on that.
Jim Free, NASA: The strategy is putting people on Mars: two people on Mars for 30 days and back safely. Everything we do should be driven by that.
Martin: we saw poor contractor performance by Boeing on SLS. The cost-plus contracts for SLS/Orion worked to the contractors’ advantage, not NASA.
Rep. Norcross (D-N.J.): what bout covid impacts on workforce and supply chain?
Free: did well keeping workforce connected. From a supply chain perspective, still TBD; dealing with issues with tanks and valves.
Free: did well keeping workforce connected. From a supply chain perspective, still TBD; dealing with issues with tanks and valves.
Lucas polls the panel on when the Artemis 3 landing will take place:
Free: 2025
Martin: NET 2026
Russell: 2025 “is not impossible but seems improbable”
Sanders: 2025 “is a stretch goal”
Dumbacher: 2025-27 is realistic
Free: 2025
Martin: NET 2026
Russell: 2025 “is not impossible but seems improbable”
Sanders: 2025 “is a stretch goal”
Dumbacher: 2025-27 is realistic
Achievement unlocked: Rep. Perlmutter (D-Colo.) shows off his Mars 2033 bumper sticker. One of the last times he’ll be able to do it since he’s not running for reelection. 
Martin: did some work looking at potential Mars missions, but no reliable estimates on what a Mars mission would cost.
Free announces that Romania signed the Artemis Accords as of 10:30 am Eastern today.
Martin: should be an Artemis-wide life cycle cost estimate. It’s not clear why NASA has failed to agree to such an estimate.
Martin: we support use of fixed-price contracts, so long as they’re used with a more firm design to avoid costs of modifications down the road.
End of the hearing. Mostly a reiteration of earlier concerns from GAO, ASAP, and NASA OIG about the progress on Artemis.
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