Space vehicle 1

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

NASA's target for going to the moon is 2024. What vehicle we're going to use to get there is not entirely clear.

The SLS (Space Launch System, being built by Boeing) is NASA's official answer to that question. Boeing calls it "the backbone for a permanent human presence in deep space, for multiple trips to the moon and eventually Mars and beyond."

But confidence is the SLS is waning. Expected dates for its first flight slipped from 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. Disappointing. Combine that with cost overruns of hundreds of millions of dollars. 

The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives science committee says, ""If delays continue, if costs rise . .  no one should assume the U.S. taxpayers or their representatives will tolerate this forever."

Indeed. Taxpayers have already invested billions in this project. But at some point, maybe we'll have to cut our losses. You can guess what company is waiting in the wings with an alternate proposal.

(cont'd tomorrow)