Casual Rocket Enjoyer

Do you believe that taking an extremely long time to do something makes it safer.. ? like 5 years of development is safer than 2 years? Were NASA’s decisions to pivot in weeks for Gemini VI/VII or months for Apollo 8 unsafe, or were they historic examples of competence that kept America in the space race? Much of the Reddit noise seems to come from people looking for reasons to take out their affinity for specific hardware, political differences, or personality conflicts on America’s lunar program. It has been long enough. We have been working for decades on America’s return to the Moon. We finally have the space policy, political alignment, resources, industry, and talent to accomplish this goal safely after a very long wait. We have two landers, and we will preserve the option to use either for as long as possible while turning every knob available to improve the probability of success. That means different vehicle configurations will remain on the table for Artemis IV until they are no longer viable. And for the most committed EUS advocates, it was never going to be an option within the timelines required. The OIG report already covered that. Even getting core stage production to an annual rate is a challenge. The decision to consider Centaur, stretched Centaur, and other upper-stage options over EUS was made by nonpolitical NASA leadership assessing cost, technical work ahead within timelines. I know this is disappointing to some hardware fans, but the idea that it is all a cover for lander availability does not hold up. NASA would have wanted an Artemis III test before an Artemis IV landing regardless, and an extended-mission Centaur would offer far more value for a lunar base and other applications than EUS. That is the reality. We are an energized and dynamic NASA and we are not just waiting around for others to deliver. It is NASA’s responsibility to drive the outcomes people have been waiting for, and that is exactly what we intend to do. We are targeting October 23 for the next Artemis update, though that date is not final as folks return from IAC.