NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine arrives in Alabama today where he is expected to hand the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville another big job in the Trump Administration’s plan to return American astronauts to the Moon in 2024.
Bridenstine is expected to announce that Marshall will lead development of two of three lunar landers needed for the Project Artemis mission. Alabama is expected to manage development of the transfer and descent landers that move astronauts to the lunar surface.
Getting the astronauts off the Moon and back to their ride home to the Earth is the third key part of the landing mission, and that ascent vehicle will be managed by Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Bridenstine’s visit to Alabama comes a day after he visited NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans to inspect progress on the Space Launch System rocket that will lift the Moon mission off the ground. The Marshall center also manages the Michoud facility dubbed “America’s rocket factory.”
A shadow fell over Bridenstine’s Alabama visit Thursday when when members of Congress from Texas released a letter asking the administrator to reconsider the lander plan. Put all of the programs in Texas, they argued, where the astronaut corps and mission control are based. U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn along with Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) signed the letter.
The decision to split the lander development program between Houston and Huntsville has a technological argument behind it, but some NASA watchers may also see a bit of “share the wealth” in NASA’s planning. Whatever the reasoning, Texas lawmakers don’t seem prepared to go along.
Bridenstine is scheduled to be accompanied by U.S. Reps. Mo Brooks and Robert Aderholt of Alabama, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee and Brian Babin of Texas.
https://www.al.com/news/2019/08/nasa-boss-arrives-in-alabama-today-bringing-key-moon-return-mission.html
2019-08-16 14:03:00Z
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