How Many Budgets Are There? It Depends Who You Ask
Senate Appropriations: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies FY 2021
“National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) – $23.5 billion. The bill provides an increase of $866 million above the funding level for the previous year. It includes a funding increase of $689 million for human exploration activities related to returning U.S. Astronauts to the Moon. Funding levels for the Space Launch System, Orion, and associated ground systems remain unchanged from previous year levels, while funding for lunar landing systems is funded at $1 billion. Also provided is $120 million to restore funding for NASA’s STEM education programs while also funding ongoing science missions, including the Roman telescope and PACE, and continuing critical aeronautics research.”
Keith’s note: NASA has been seeking $3 billion for Artemis systems including the Human Landing System to meet their current 2024 landing goal. Without this funding NASA has said that it would be rather difficult to accomplish this goal. The Senate has allotted more ($1 billion) that the House has ($628 million) but it still falls far short of what NASA says that it needs.
White House tells federal agencies to proceed with plans for Trump’s February budget in latest sign of election defiance, Washington Post
“The White House budget proposal is typically issued in February, which would be at least two weeks after President Trump is scheduled to depart the White House. He lost the Nov. 3 election to former vice president Joe Biden, who is set to be sworn in on Jan. 20, though Trump has refused to accept the results. The decision to proceed with Trump’s budget for the 2022 fiscal year has rankled and surprised several career staffers given Biden’s victory, as well as the fact that the incoming Biden administration is expected to submit its budget plan to Congress early next year.”
So does this end the 2024 timeline for a lunar landing?
It depends on the folks from Hawthorne. Along with the willingness of
NASACongressional critters to buy a ride.It was never a serious option.
I suspect the official plan for a lunar landing in 2024 will remain official until someone says otherwise. Perhaps Mr. Harris as chair of the National Space Council (if it continues to exist under the new administration.) But for practical rather than official purposes, the 2024 date has been dead for some time. If the FY2021 budget had been passed a few months ago, with all the money NASA requested for Artemis, I think there might have been a small chance of a human landing in 2024. But this budget is pretty much the last nail in the coffin. NASA will officially continue to work towards trying to do it until they get new orders, but it’s not going to happen.
(Warning! Very broad statements follow).
NASA wants $3B for Artemis, particularly the HLS.
NASA acquires hardware through contracts with the companies that anyone around here can name. Lump together NASA’s historical acquisition methods and, for convenience, call it ‘business as usual’. In this context, neither the manner of contracting, nor the style of administration aren’t important.
Historically, folks would piss and moan about costs, delays, over runs, etc. And that was about all that was possible. There being no real competition, assessing the efficacy of contractor performance simply was not possible. A schedule slip, as an example, is so common that contract administrators aren’t surprised.
Restating the obvious: the system was/ is well-entrenched. Reason: no point of comparison.
But isn’t the environment completely different now?
After spending $380M (2020 dollars), SX demonstrates a shiny new rocket, and new engine, and capsule, and all the appurtenances necessary thereto.
Wouldn’t an interested citizen ask this question? “What are the lessons of the SX approach? And how can we adapt them to governmental contracting?”
Yes, governmental contracting is a different beast, mostly for very good reasons. But still; the cost delta is stunningly elephantine.
Gotta be a lesson in there somewhere?
Wouldn’t an inquiry with the stature of The Rogers Commission be helpful? We hear an awful lot of yammering about the beauty of so-called ‘free enterprise’ in our great country. Why aren’t we working to integrate appropriate lessons from SX and others into the NASA workflow?