NASA could use a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to send astronauts back to the Moon

NASA's Jim Bridenstine says the agency is considering SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket and ULA's Delta IV Heavy rocket for the Agency's Moon mission

NASA may use a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to send astronauts back to the Moon, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Monday while addressing a staff meeting at the Agency's headquarters.

Bridenstine, who talked with NASA employees about the upcoming Moon mission, said that the agency will likely need more funding to accomplish the mission before the presidential election in 2024 - as urged by vice president Mike Pence.

NASA could use a Falcon Heavy rocket in combination with an Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage developed by ULA

When asked about the idea of launching the Orion spacecraft using private rockets on an unmanned test flight around the Moon, Bridenstine said that NASA had already looked at a number of options. These include SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, ULA's Delta IV Heavy rocket, or even a combination of the two.

The administrator added that NASA could use a Falcon Heavy rocket in combination with an Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage developed by ULA.

However, there are a number of technical issues associated with this option. A major challenge in this case would be the integration of the rocket in a horizontal position, and then loading the fuel into Orion with its vertical configuration on the launchpad. The Falcon Heavy rocket would also require a much bigger 'payload fairing' during flight than what is normally used.

Vice president Mike Pence urged the US space agency to bring forward its mission to the Moon

"It would require time [and] cost, and there is risk involved," Bridenstine said.

Last week in a speech before the National Space Council in Huntsville, Alabama, vice president Pence urged the US space agency to bring forward its mission to the Moon, suggesting that it should return to the Moon within five years.

He stressed that NASA needed to have a much greater sense of urgency. Pence was implicitly criticising the slow progress of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which NASA plans to use in Moon missions, but which is years behind schedule.

Pence said that if NASA fails to send astronauts to the Moon in five years then "we need to change the agency, not the mission".

At Monday's town hall meeting, Bridenstine reiterated Pence's statement that the accomplishment of landing on Moon would matter much more than the "means" used to carry out the mission.

"This is a big charge, and it comes straight from the top," Bridenstine said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

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