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ghosttruck

Level 57 Taco Wizard
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NASA are going back to the Moon.

The last man walked on the Moon’s surface in 1972. Since then, barring a few automated rovers, Moon exploration has gone pretty quiet.

But US president Donald Trump is very keen to reassert the country’s dominance in space.

He’s announced the formation of a Space Force, set to be established between 2020 and 2024, and he has rubber-stamped the Project Artemis project.

Artemis, in Greek mythology was the sister of Apollo. And the choice of name is no accident.

The astronaut who walks in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11 and the first man on the Moon, is expected to be a woman.

NASA have today announced the commissioning of the Orion vehicle that will take Project Artemis to the Moon.

The date of the projected landing is expected to be some time in 2024. It’s an ambitious schedule – NASA hasn’t sent astronauts further than the International Space Station since the Seventies, and the Moon is a much more distant – and a much more dangerous – target.

“We’ve been given an ambitious and exciting goal. History has proven when we’re given a task by the president, along with the resources and the tools, we can deliver,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

“We are committed to making this happen. We have the people to achieve it. Now, we just need bipartisan support and the resources to get this done.”

He continued: “First, we are focused on speed to land the next man, and first woman, on the Moon by 2024. Second, we will establish sustainable missions by 2028. To do that, we need our powerful Space Launch System to put the mass of reusable systems into deep space."

 
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