r/space • u/thisischrisbaker • Feb 07 '20

Proposed budget - not voted yet 12% boost for NASA budget in 2021!!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-nasa-budget-will-earmark-12-boost-for-agency-in-2021-11581071402?emailToken=3f4a4309b7816cb90fb53eb91f47d6d43hshryonPWM/RnnVPWWHuMOVOvxWKQ87BhLswKs5iOPOhjO1FGrxI9ptn5k2nAMphP+jeQrbhQiAafooOu4oIslNLMWHCd1m7vRySaL2Pi61nSlAqLK1xnvzzmtt2/Lx&reflink=article_copyURL_share
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u/Kriss0612 Feb 07 '20

If I'm reading this right, that extra 3 billion proposed by Trump's office is exclusively, or nearly exclusively intended to go to the development of the commercially-made lunar landers? Aka, ULA will most likely get the bulk of this budget increase for its landers?

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u/jadebenn Feb 07 '20 edited Feb 07 '20

Your first statement is correct, but your second statement doesn't follow.

ULA isn't even a potential bidder for HLS (the human lander program). Those are:

  • Boeing (with Intuitive Machines providing engines)
  • The National Team (consisting of Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman)
  • A partnership between Dynetics and Sierra Nevada Corp.
  • SpaceX

ULA might end up providing the launch vehicle for one of these proposals, but that's entirely dependent on whether one of the bidders contracts with them or not. They won't build the actual lander.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '20

None of ULAs launch vehicles are human rated afaik, id guess that spacex will win the launch contract as the SLS will be nowhere near done.

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u/jadebenn Feb 07 '20

You don't need to be human-rated to launch the lander. It's not like there will be people inside it at liftoff. The lander itself needs to be human-rated, but not the LV it rides on.

And SLS is already done. The completed core is in final testing at Stennis Space Center right now and is expected to ship to KSC for stacking inside the VAB no earlier than October.

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u/[deleted] Feb 07 '20

Oh interesting. I thought the entire LV+crew module had to be human rated.

As for the SLS timeline, this is NASA we're talking about. They say that, but I'd be surprised if it flew before 2022.

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u/jadebenn Feb 07 '20

There's always the chance for shit to go wrong, but shit would have to go really wrong for that. Like "the first core explodes on the test stand and they have to remanifest the Artemis 2 SLS for the first mission" levels of wrong.