Keith’s note: Now that NASA has been told to cancel Gateway what happens to all its pieces? Social media is full of speculation: Halo as a Mars lifeboat; PPE as part of a lunar or Mars relay; building some portion of Gateway and sending it to Mars as part of a sprint human effort. And what happens to all the international partners who trusted America and threw in billions to build parts – and the whole Artemis Accords thing? Did anyone put any reasons or strategic thought into this?

Keith’s note: According to Ars Technica: “On Friday, with less than an hour’s notice, David Dutcher, Boeing’s vice president and program manager for the SLS rocket, scheduled an all-hands meeting for the approximately 800 employees working on the program. The apparently scripted meeting lasted just six minutes, and Dutcher didn’t take questions.” Oh yes: Eric Berger just update this story with a tweet saying “NASA HQ was caught completely unaware on Friday afternoon when the first stories started to appear. Boeing apparently did this to pressure lawmakers to ‘save’ SLS before the White House takes action.”

Keith’s note: From GAO: “Two pieces of NASA’s Gateway program—the first space station to orbit the moon—are scheduled to launch together in 2027. NASA is taking steps to ensure Gateway will be ready. For example, the program plans to update a cost and schedule analysis that will help determine whether the launch date is feasible. But this program also faces some significant challenges. For example, the mass of the pieces is too high. So, if it isn’t reduced, they might not be able to reach the correct lunar orbit once launched. We recommended documenting the Gateway program’s plans to address this issue to help ensure it can meet the planned launch date.” Full report: Artemis Programs: NASA Should Document and Communicate Plans to Address Gateway’s Mass Risk

Keith’s note: According to the OIG: “Except for the Gateway Program, the Artemis campaign does not have comprehensive forums—boards, panels, and working groups— for its international partners to routinely discuss topics such as flight and mission planning, safety, and research integration. In contrast, the ISS Program–seen as a model of long-term international space cooperation–employs these forums as well as on-site representation from partner agencies. … current Artemis agreements are pursued bilaterally with interested parties without an overall cooperative framework that addresses the legal structure, program development, or partner roles and responsibilities.” Executive Summary and Full report

NASA’s Management of the Gateway Program for Artemis Missions, NASA OIG “NASA selected Maxar in May 2019 to provide the PPE under a fixed-price contract because the Agency anticipated few design and development changes. However, the contract value has increased by $78.5 million since the award, with more increases expected to accommodate additional evolving requirements and technical challenges. PPE has also experienced other contract management challenges, including the collapse of […]

NASA, European Space Agency Formalize Artemis Gateway Partnership, NASA “NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) have finalized an agreement to collaborate on the Artemis Gateway. This agreement is an important element in a broad effort by the United States to engage international partners in sustainable lunar exploration and to demonstrate technologies necessary for a future human mission to Mars. The agreement, signed Tuesday, marks NASA’s first formal commitment to launch […]

Gateway No Longer Mandatory For 2024 Lunar Landing, Space Policy Online “The head of NASA’s human exploration program said today that the lunar Gateway that has been a linchpin of the Artemis program no longer is a mandatory component of getting astronauts back on the Moon by 2024. NASA has decided to “decouple” getting to the Moon “fast” versus getting there “sustainably” and Gateway is not needed to get there […]

Hertz: As NASA develops infrastructure for Artemis, like the lunar Gateway, we will make it available for astrophysics and other scientific investigations, based on science merit. #AAS235 — Jeff Foust (@jeff_foust) January 5, 2020 Keith’s note: On more than one occasion Jim Bridenstine (and others at NASA) have sought to make it clear that NASA does not see Gateway as a “mini space station” only to call it a “space […]

Today @NASA Dep Admin Jim Morhard @jmorhard said "The Gateway is not the ISS. If ISS was a Marriott hotel then Gateway would be a pup tent." OK. If Gateway is going to be a pup tent in 2024 then what is the @SpaceX #Starship which is aiming for a 2022 landing? The Denver airport? pic.twitter.com/E9N6P5Du5D — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) October 31, 2019

Some NASA contractors appear to be trying to kill the Lunar Gateway, Ars Technica “These members, including Oklahoma Democratic representative and committee chair Kendra Horn, as well as Alabama Republican representative Mo Brooks, were particularly skeptical of private rockets in their comments and questions during the hearing. They also pressed NASA on why the agency is not moving more quickly with development of a powerful second stage upgrade for the […]