ExoMars 2020 Rover and Lander Get Names: ‘Rosalind Franklin’ and ‘Kazachok’

Artists concept of the joint ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars 2020 mission showing the ESA rover newly named after distinguished scientist Rosalind Franklin and the science landing platform named ‘Kazachok’. ExoMars 2020 will launch in July 2020 on a Russian Proton rocket to land on Mars in April 2021. Credit: ESA

Ken Kremer  --SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –28 March 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The major components of the ExoMars 2020 mission to the Red Planet have at last been named – the European-led rover is named ‘Rosalind Franklin’ after a distinguished scientist involved in determining the structure of DNA and the Russian-led surface science landing platform is named ‘Kazachok’ after a folk dance.

ExoMars 2020 is a joint cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space agency, Roscosmos. 

The joint endeavor will launch in July 2020 on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and land on Mars in April 2021. 

The landing platform will transport the solar powered rover to the Red Planet’s surface and both will be outfitted with science instruments to study the fourth planet from the sun and search for signs of life, past or present.

ESA ExoMars rover is named after distinguished scientist Rosalind Franklin and will launch in July 2020 on a Russian Proton rocket to land on Mars in April 2021. Credit: ESA

After safely soft landing on the Martian landscape atop the ‘Kazachok’ surface landing platform, the  ‘Rosalind Franklin’ rover will drive off the Kazachok platform to perform scientific investigations “in search of evidence of past – and perhaps even present – life buried underground,” says ESA.   

Meanwhile “Kazachok will remain stationary to investigate the climate, atmosphere, radiation and possible presence of subsurface water in the landing site.”  The name literally means little Cossack, and is a lively folk dance. 

ExoMars 2020 will launch the same years as NASA’s 2020 rover which is as yet unnamed. Both will be looking for signs of Martian life. 

The name ‘Rosalind Franklin’ was chosen by a panel of experts from over 36 000 entries submitted by citizens from all ESA Member States, following a competition launched by the UK Space Agency in July last year.

Rosalind Franklin with microscope in 1955.  Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer who contributed to unravelling the double helix structure of our DNA. She also made enduring contributions to the study of coal, carbon and graphite. Credit: MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

“Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer who contributed to unravelling the double helix structure of our DNA. She also made enduring contributions to the study of coal, carbon and graphite,” said ESA.

The ExoMars rover will be the first of its kind to combine the capability to roam around Mars and to study it at a significant depth. 

Rosalind Franklin has been designed to drill down to two meters into the surface to sample the soil, analyse its composition and search for evidence of life past or present looking for life deep underground.   

“This name reminds us that it is in the human genes to explore. Science is in our DNA, and in everything we do at ESA. Rosalind the rover captures this spirit and carries us all to the forefront of space exploration,” says ESA Director General Jan Woerner, in a statement. 

The name was revealed in the ‘Mars Yard’ of the prime contractor Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, in the United Kingdom, where the rover is being built. 

“This rover will scout the martian surface equipped with next-generation instruments – a fully-fledged automated laboratory on Mars,” says ESA astronaut Tim Peake who met the winners of the naming competition. 

“With it, we are building on our European heritage in robotic exploration, and at the same time devising new technologies.” 

ExoMars 2020 landing platform packed for shipment. Credit: Roscosmos

The landing platform and descent module was built by Russian Lavochkin Association and recently shipped from Russia on an Antonov plane to the Italian division of Thales Alenia Space who will perform final assembly and testing of the mission and integration with the rover - in a combined European-Russian effort.  

“We have now a very challenging schedule of deliveries and tests both in Italy and France. The coordination between the Russian and European teams is key to timely reach the Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2020,” says François Spoto, ESA’s ExoMars team leader.

The integrated ExoMars spacecraft assembly will then be shipped to Baikonur for integration with the Proton rocket launcher.  

ExoMars 2020 landing platform artists concept.  Credit: Roscosmos

The landing site is yet to be chosen from 3 final candidates.  

ExoMars 2020 landing site candidates. Credit: ESA

The 828 kg lander (1825 lb.) includes a science payload of 45 kg with instruments and cameras provided from Roscosmos and ESA. 

The 310 kg (680 lb) rover includes a 26 kg (57 lb) science payload with a suite of research instruments, a 2 meter deep driller and cameras provided by Roscosmos and ESA as well as NASA’s most advanced soil sample analyzer designed to search for organic molecules and signs of life – even more powerful than the SAM instrument on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover.

‘Rosalind Franklin’ is designed to operate for at least seven months and drive at least 4 km (2.5 mi) after landing.

Data and signals will be relayed back to Earth via ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter which arrived in 2016 and searching for trace amounts of methane, which could be a hint of ongoing biological or geological processes released into the Martian atmosphere. 

Exomars lander platform. Unpacking the platform that is destined to land on the Red Planet as part of the next ExoMars mission in Turin, Italy. Credit: Thales Alenia Space

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Apr 3: “Exploring Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.”  7 PM, Lawton C Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sef-grant-presents-exploring-mars-and-the-search-for-life-3d-registration-55524445110

Curiosity Captures Gorgeous 360 Panorama of 'Rock Hall'

Curiosity's 360 panorama of 'Rock Hall': This panorama from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was taken on Dec. 19 (Sol 2265). The rover's last drill location on Vera Rubin Ridge is visible, as well as the clay region it will spend the next year exploring. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Ken Kremer  --SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM –27 March 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA’s Curiosity rover captured a gorgeous 360 degree color panorama of ‘Vera Rubin Ridge’ with arm raised high showing where she spent more than a year exploring and drilling into Mars at the base Mount Sharp and where  she will spend the forthcoming year in her ongoing quest to search for signs of life.

The car sized rover has now recently moved on from Vera Rubin Ridge to her new Red Planet home and next area of investigation - previously dubbed the ‘clay-bearing unit’ and now renamed ‘Glen Torridon’.

The immense, high resolution ‘Rock Hall’ panorama was created from raw images  taken on Dec. 19, 2018 (Sol 2265) by the robots color Mast Camera (Mastcam).

The 360 pano spans a breathtaking view across the Martian surface inside the floor of Gale Crater showing the rover's last drill location at 'Rock Hall’ on Vera Rubin Ridge as well as ‘Glen Torridon’ - the clay region she will spend the next year exploring.

The scene combines 122 images taken with Mastcam's left-eye camera and was released by the rovers handlers. 

Rock Hall counts as Curiosity’s 19^th drill site in Gale Crater.

‘Glen Torridon’ sits in a trough just south of the ridge. Clay minerals in this unit may hold more clues about the ancient lakes that helped form the lower levels on Mount Sharp.

NASA’s Curiosity rover departs Vera Rubin Ridge and head towards the next exploration site called the Clay Bearing Unit - seen in this mosaic of images from the navigation camera. This navcam camera mosaic was stitched from raw images taken on Sol 2298, Jan. 23, 2019 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Marco Di Lorenzo Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

The color balance of the pano was adjusted by the team to approximate white balancing so as to resemble how the rocks and sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.

The rover reached the base of Mount Sharp in 2014 and has been slowly but steadily climbing ever since to carefully examine the sedimentary layers laid down over billions of years. 

Furthermore the team released a 360 degree YouTube so the public can explore the region in detail here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-gZpz8zuDQ

Video Caption: NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Departs Vera Rubin Ridge (360 View): The rover took a 360-degree panorama of the area depicting its last drill hole on the ridge (at a location called "Rock Hall"). Not all browsers support viewing 360 videos. YouTube supports their playback on computers using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera browsers. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity is currently exploring the lower sedimentary layers of Mount Sharp which tower over 3 miles (5.5 km) into the Martian sky and found that it supported a habitable zone billions of years ago. 

Curiosity rover investigates a huge variety of past environments preserved within Gale Crater along Vera Rubin Ridge while celebrating 2000 Sols of exploration on the Red Planet. Rover deck is backdropped by Mount Sharp in this navcam camera mosaic stitched from raw images taken on Sol 2003, Mar. 26, 2018 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Marco Di Lorenzo Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

Following the demise of the Opportunity rover killed by a planet encircling dust storm after 15 exciting years of exploration, Curiosity is NASA’s only functioning rover operating on the Red Planet.

The stationary InSight lander also continues science operations. 

Here are further details from NASA:

"Even though the rover has left the ridge, Curiosity's team is still piecing together the story of its formation. While there have been a number of clues so far, none fully explains why the ridge has resisted erosion compared with the bedrock around it. But the rover's investigation did find that the rocks of the ridge formed as sediment settled in an ancient lake, similar to rock layers below the ridge.

"We've had our fair share of surprises," said Curiosity science team member Abigail Fraeman of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We're leaving with a different perspective of the ridge than what we had before."

A NASA orbiter studying the ridge had previously identified a strong signal from hematite, an iron-rich mineral that often forms in water. Curiosity confirmed the presence of hematite, along with other signs of ancient water, like crystals. These signs appeared in patches, leading the team to suspect that over time groundwater affected certain parts of the ridge differently than others. Another discovery was that the hematite signatures Curiosity mapped didn't always match the view from space.

"The whole traverse is helping us understand all the factors that influence how our orbiters see Mars," Fraeman said. "Looking up close with a rover allowed us to find a lot more of these hematite signatures. It shows how orbiter and rover science complement one another."

The ridge has also served as the backdrop to a roller-coaster year: Curiosity's drill returned to action, only to be stymied by surprisingly hard rocks. Nevertheless, the team managed to get samples from the three major rock types of the ridge. To get around a memory issue, engineers also swapped the rover's computers (the spacecraft was designed with two so that it can continue operations if one experiences a glitch). While the issue is still being diagnosed, operations have continued with little impact on the mission.

The rover's new home, Glen Torridon, is in a trough between Vera Rubin Ridge and the rest of the mountain. This region had been called the clay-bearing unit because orbiter data show that the rocks there contain phyllosilicates — clay minerals that form in water and that could tell scientists more about the ancient lakes that were present in Gale Crater off and on throughout its early history.

"In addition to indicating a previously wet environment, clay minerals are known to trap and preserve organic molecules," said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada of JPL. "That makes this area especially promising, and the team is already surveying the area for its next drill site."

Curiosity has found both clay minerals and organic molecules in many of the rocks it has drilled since landing in 2012. Organic molecules are the chemical building blocks of life. If both water and organic molecules were present when the rocks formed, the clay-bearing unit may be another example of a habitable environment on ancient Mars — a place capable of supporting life, if it ever existed.

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Curiosity Traverse Map as of Sol 2354. Credit: NASA

As of today, Sol 2359, Mar. 27, 2019 Curiosity has driven over 12.66 miles (20.38) kilometers) since its August 2012 landing inside Gale Crater from the landing site to Mount Sharp and taken over 562,500 amazing images. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Apr 3: “Exploring Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.”  7 PM, Lawton C Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sef-grant-presents-exploring-mars-and-the-search-for-life-3d-registration-55524445110

VP Pence Calls for Human Return to the Moon by 2024

Vice President Mike Pence speaks about NASA’s mandate to return American astronauts to the Moon and on to Mars at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council March 26, 2019, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  Credits: NASA

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 26 March 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  Vice President Mike Pence called on NASA to vastlyaccelerate its human lunar spaceflight efforts and mandated the agency to adopt “a new urgency” and ‘return humans to land on the Moon in the next 5 years’ – meaning by 2024 - in a rousing speech at today’s fifth meeting of the National Space Council. However he offered few technical and budgetary details on how to accomplish this exciting goal that is long overdue.

American astronauts should step foot on the Moon "within the next 5 years" Pence emphatically and clearly stated – moving NASA’s human landing target up by 4 years from 2028 to 2024.  

To accomplish a human lunar landing by 2024 NASA’s SLS heavy lift rocket must be accelerated to launch NASA’s Orion crew capsule on the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) test flight to the Moon and back in 2020, Pence emphasized. 

Pence laid out the dramatically accelerated timeline for ‘Boots on the Moon’ during the National Space Council meeting he chaired at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, today, March 26, carried live on NASA Television. 

“At the direction of the President of the United States, it is the stated policy of this administration and the United States of America to return American astronauts to the moon within the next five years,” Pence said. 

Furthermore Pence specified that the Moon landing would take place at the lunar South Pole where NASA discovered huge caches of water ice that could potentially be mined for rocket fuel and oxygen. 

“To reach the moon in the next five years we must select our destinations now,” he said.

“NASA already knows that the lunar south pole holds great scientific, economic and strategic value, but now it’s time to commit to go there.”

Artists concept for NASA’s human return to the Moon’s surface by 2024. Credit: NASA

Furthermore Pence stated that the lunar landing would include the first woman to walk on the Moon.  

“To be clear: the first woman and the next man on the moon will both be American astronauts, launched by American rockets from American soil.”

“It’s time to step up. Accelerate SLS. It’s time for the Next Giant Leap’ in 5 years.”

"America will once again astonish the world with the heights we reach, the wonders we achieve & we will lead the world in human space exploration once again."

The last time American astronauts walked on the Moon was back in Dec. 1972 during NASA’s Apollo 17 moon landing mission. No human has ventured back since. 

This year marks the 50^th anniversary since Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the Moon during the Apollo 11 moon landing mission on July 20, 1969. 

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” declared Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong, uttering his famous first words from Tranquility Base after stepping off the ladder of the Lunar Module named Eagle.  

Vice President Mike Pence speaks about NASA’s mandate to return American astronauts to the Moon and on to Mars at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council March 26, 2019, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  Credits: NASA TV/Space UpClose/Ken Kremer

President Trump has made returning humans to the moon sooner a highlight of his Administration by supporting NASA and signing ‘Space Policy Directive One’ in December 2017 which states - “the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations.” The budget reality is disappointingly far different and a bit dismal. 

The Trump budgets proposed for NASA have been insufficient for the sped up timelines and bold goals he declared. 

Indeed President Trumps’ Fiscal Year 2020 NASA Budget request has slashed the agency’s budget by $480 million or 2.2% compared to the actual Fiscal Year 2019 budget appropriated and enacted by Congress in February 2019 – which amounted to $21.5 Billion.  

Thus it will be up to President Trump and the US Congress to act in a bipartisan manner and provide NASA sufficient funds to this worthy but daunting task.

Pence stated today in no uncertain terms that the new lunar 5 year goal would be accomplished “By any means necessary!”

“The president has directed NASA and Administrator Jim Bridenstine to accomplish this goal by any means necessary. We must focus on the mission over the means. You must consider every available option and platform to meet our goals.”

Pence added that commercial alternatives would be considered if the current contractor- meaning prime contractor Boeing for SLS- was not up to the task. 

“We’re committed to Marshall. But to be clear, we’re not committed to any one contractor. If our current contractors can’t meet this objective, then we’ll find ones who will.”

“If commercial rockets are the only way to get American astronauts to the moon in the next five years, then commercial rockets it will be!” Pence warned. 

“Urgency must be our watchword.”

Pence’s stern admonition to Boeing is long overdue- having spent many Billions of Dollars since the program was approved nearly 10 years ago and given us years of delays in return. Originally SLS was targeted for inaugural launch in 2017. 

In response NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine accepted the challenge at the National Space Council meeting. 

“It is the right time for this challenge, and I assured the Vice President that we, the people of NASA, are up to the challenge,” Bridenstine replied.

“We are up to the task.”

“Anything not mandatory is a distraction,” he elaborated.

Aspirational concept of Gateway crewed lunar outpost shown by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine as he announces NASA’s 2020 budget request from the Trump Administration to NASA employees, contractors and the media at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 11, 2019.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Hopefully NASA will not cannibalize science to achieve the Moon landing because the consequences would be catastrophic for the nation’s and NASA’s science objectives for years to come. 

“Challenge accepted. Now let’s get to work,” Bridenstine tweeted later.

The Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket has suffered repeated delays. And Boeing informed Bridenstine recently that they could not achieve the 2020 launch target. 

Feeling the heat, Boeing has reevaluated their prior statement of delay to NASA and promised they will achieve the 2020 launch target.

Its not clear how this will be accomplished – except to curtail the testing program and perhaps conduct the first test firing of the SLS core stage on Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex-39B rather than a full duration “green run” test firing  on a test stand at NASA’s Marshall space center.

Orion EM-1 Crew Module under construction at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida by prime contractor Lockheed Martin.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The commercial alternatives to launch Orion on the EM-1 mission piecemeal on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy and ULA Delta IV Heavy are off the table for now, Bridenstine explained. 

“I did open up the window to having commercial opportunities to launching the Orion crew capsule around the moon,” Bridenstine stated.

"There is an opportunity there in the future. I will also tell you that, if we want to achieve 2024, we have to have SLS. We have to accelerate its agenda.”

NASA studied the feasibility of commercial launchers like the SpaceX Falcon Heavy and ULA Delta IV Heavy for the past 2 weeks since Bridenstine mentioned it during U.S. Senate testimony on March 13.

“While some of these alternative vehicles could work, none was capable of achieving our goals to orbit around the Moon for Exploration Mission-1 within our timeline and on budget.  The results of this two-week study reaffirmed our commitment to the SLS.”

NASA’s Orion Crew Module and European Service Module orbit around the Moon. Credit: NASA/ESA, ATG-medialab

“This is a national priority. We will provide the resources,” Pence said as he reminded everyone of the ever-present competition from China and Russia. 

“We must renew American leadership in space.” 

"Urgency must be our watchword." 

"The United States must remain first in space in this century as in the last, not just to propel our economy and secure our nation but, above all, because the rules and values of space, like every great frontier, will be written by those who have the courage to get there first and the commitment to stay."

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announces NASA’s 2020 budget request from the Trump Administration to NASA employees and the media at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 11, 2019.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

NASA’s Lunar Gateway platform orbiting around the Moon is key to NASA’s efforts – but may change after the council meeting. 

Bridenstine explained that the Lunar Gateway “orbiting around the Moon will allow us to get to more parts of the lunar surface than ever before.” 

Bridenstine also emphasized that NASA will definitely require immediate development of the more powerful ‘Exploration Upper Stage’ (EUS) to accomplish the 2024 landing mandate.

SLS and EUS are required to launch Orion and simultaneously co-manifested payloads to the Moon. The current ICPS upper stage for EM-1 and EM-2 is insufficiently powered for EM-3 and beyond. 

The Trump Administration had deleted all funds to develop EUS in NASA’s recently announced FY 2020 Budget Request.

“We’re going to need an Exploration Upper Stage, and we’re going to need that probably early, by EM-3, the third launch of the Space Launch System.”

Thus its abundantly clear that NASA will need much more and sustained political and monetary support from the President and Congress to accomplish this accelerated human lunar landing timeline. 

“I know NASA is ready for the challenge of moving forward to the Moon, this time to stay.”

Bridenstine stated later that NASA would establish a new directorate to focus on the lunar landing. 

“We will take action in the days and weeks ahead to accomplish these goals.” 

“I have already directed a new alignment within NASA to ensure we effectively support this effort, which includes establishing a new mission directorate to focus on the formulation and execution of exploration development activities. We are calling it the Moon to Mars Mission Directorate.”

Vice President Pence concluded with these words:

“Lets GO NASA. Lets GO American space.

“Lets GO Back to the Moon!”

Graphic outlining NASA’s Exploration Mission-1 with Orion human-rated spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket launch to the Moon in 2020. Credit: NASA

Graphic outlining NASA’s Exploration Mission-1 with Orion human-rated spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket launch to the Moon in 2020. Credit: NASA  

Here is a statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on the Return to the Moon in Next 5 Years:

"The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Tuesday’s announcement by Vice President Mike Pence, at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council, about putting American astronauts back on the Moon in the next five years:

“Today, I joined leaders from across the country as Vice President Mike Pence chaired the fifth meeting of the National Space Council. Vice President Pence lauded President Donald J. Trump’s bold vision for space exploration and spoke to NASA’s progress on key elements to accomplish the President’s Space Policy Directives.

“Among the many topics discussed during our meeting at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was to accelerate our return to the Moon:

·        NASA is charged to get American astronauts to the Moon in the next five years.

·        We are tasked with landing on the Moon’s South Pole by 2024.

·        Stay on schedule for flying Exploration Mission-1 with Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket next year, and for sending the first crewed mission to the lunar vicinity by 2022.

·        NASA will continue to ‘use all means necessary’ to ensure mission success in moving us forward to the Moon.

“It is the right time for this challenge, and I assured the Vice President that we, the people of NASA, are up to the challenge.

“We will take action in the days and weeks ahead to accomplish these goals. We have laid out a clear plan for NASA’s exploration campaign that cuts across three strategic areas: low-Earth orbit, the Moon, and Mars and deeper into space.

“I have already directed a new alignment within NASA to ensure we effectively support this effort, which includes establishing a new mission directorate to focus on the formulation and execution of exploration development activities. We are calling it the Moon to Mars Mission Directorate.

“Earlier today I was also at Marshall Space Flight Center for an all-hands to reinforce our commitment to SLS with the workforce. We discussed my recent announcement that NASA would consider all options to fly Orion around the Moon on schedule. I shared the analysis we conducted to assess flying the Orion on different commercial options. While some of these alternative vehicles could work, none was capable of achieving our goals to orbit around the Moon for Exploration Mission-1 within our timeline and on budget. The results of this two-week study reaffirmed our commitment to the SLS. More details will be released in the future.

“There’s a lot of excitement about our plans and also a lot of hard work and challenges ahead, but I know the NASA workforce and our partners are up to it. We are now looking at creative approaches to advance SLS manufacturing and testing to ensure Exploration Mission-1 launches in 2020. We will work to ensure we have a safe and reliable launch system that keeps its promise to the American people.

“I know NASA is ready for the challenge of moving forward to the Moon, this time to stay.”
………

The Orion crew module and European Service Module stack is currently on target to launch in mid-2020.

Manufacture of the SLS megarocket is the holdup to an on time launch next year. 

Aspirational concept of Gateway crewed lunar outpost shown by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine as he announces NASA’s 2020 budget request from the Trump Administration to NASA employees and the media at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 11, 2019.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Apr 3: “Exploring Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.”  7 PM, Lawton C Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sef-grant-presents-exploring-mars-and-the-search-for-life-3d-registration-55524445110

Graphic outlining European Service Module for NASA’s Exploration Mission-1 with Orion human-rated spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket launch to the Moon in 2020. Credit: ESA/Airbus  

ESA’s first European Service Module for NASA Orion crew capsule is unveiled at welcoming ceremony at Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 16, 2018, including remarks by ESA Director General Jan Wörner.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com