Enlarge / NASA has named a cadre of "Artemis Astronauts," but the program's future is uncertain. (credit: NASA)
One of the biggest questions about space policy under the Biden Administration is whether the president will embrace the Artemis Moon program set into motion by the Trump White House. This plan called for a return of humans to the Moon, and build up over time of a lunar base. Vice President Mike Pence set an aggressive timeline for the first Moon landing to occur—2024.
It has been clear for many months that this timeline was unattainable, and the final nail in the coffin came in December, when Congress provided just $850 million for a Human Landing System in the fiscal year 2021 budget. This is only one-quarter of what NASA said it needed to have any hope of making the 2024 landing date.
Congress steps up
Because of this middling funding level it has not clear how supportive Congress was of the Artemis Plan. But on Wednesday 10 Democratic Senators sent a letter to the Biden administration urging support for the Human Landing System program, which is the critical hardware needed to enable a human return to the Moon.
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