NASA’s goal of returning American astronauts to the moon by 2024 isn’t feasible because of significant delays in developing spacesuits, NASA Inspector General Paul K. Martin said in a new report.
Even though NASA will have spent more than a billion dollars on the next-generation spacesuits, Martin concluded that the “suits would not be ready for flight until April 2025 at the earliest” and are “years away from completion.”
The report attributes the delays to funding shortfalls, COVID-19 impacts and technical challenges. Currently, there are 27 different companies supplying various components for the suits. SpaceX’s Elon Musk said on Twitter that the report makes it seem “like too many cooks in the kitchen,” adding that “SpaceX could do it if need be.”
SpaceX won a US$2.9 billion contract from NASA in April to develop the lunar lander for the Artemis program. But the awarding of that contract was delayed due to a protest from two competitors, Blue Origin and Dynetics. The inspector general said those protests, combined with delays to NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion Capsule, also contributed to NASA’s inability to meet its goal of a 2024 landing. The issues have resulted in approximately 20 months of delay to the flight suit delivery schedule, according to the report.
“I’m soberly realistic. The goal is 2024, but space is hard. And we know when you are pushing the edge of the envelope, often there are delays. There’s a No. 1 factor and that’s safety, and it’s involving humans. There might be a delay, but the goal is late 2024.”
Former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver has previously criticized the 2024 time line and compared the Artemis program to the parable of the emperor with no clothes.
In response to the release of the report, Garver told CNN, “Unfortunately, I don’t think the emperor has many clothes left on under the spacesuit either.”
An audit was carried out between August 2020 and July 2021 to examine the development of NASA’s next-generation spacesuits required for the International Space Station and Artemis missions that will return humans to the moon later this decade.
The development of new spacesuits is critical for “returning humans to the Moon, continuing safe operations on the International Space Station, and exploring Mars and other deep space locations,” according to the report.
These Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs, include the spacesuit and hardware that astronauts use to connect to the ISS and other spacecraft.
“Currently, astronauts use EMUs designed 45 years ago for the Space Shuttle Program and rely on these refurbished and partially redesigned spacesuits for extravehicular activities on the ISS,” according to the report.
The development of new spacesuit technology has been ongoing at NASA for the last 14 years. Five years ago, work began on the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Units, or xEMU project. Two flight-ready xEMUs, as well as a test suit and a demo suit for the ISS, are also needed ahead of this historic lunar landing.
The report noted that the failure to complete the suits ahead of the November 2024 planned mission, known as Artemis III, isn’t the only factor impacting the schedule.
Recommendations to get back on track
To make sure the xEMUs are completed, the report made four recommendations including adjusting the schedule to reduce development risks and creating a master schedule that brings hardware and training needs together.
The document also suggests “ensuring technical requirements for the next-generation suits are solidified before selecting the acquisition strategy to procure suits for the ISS and Artemis programs” and making sure that strategy meets the needs of both programs.
“The lunar landing relies on the HLS Program, which is early in the design phase, but has specific requirements for the technical capability, functionality, and overall size of the suits,” according to the report. “However, the suits are also needed as soon as possible by the ISS Program to replace aging suits that have exceeded their design life by more than 25 years, necessitating costly maintenance to ensure astronaut safety. Thus far, NASA has struggled to align these schedules with mission needs.”
After receiving a draft of the report, NASA management agreed with the recommendations and has plans to address them.
“NASA intends to perform a demonstration prior to the first Artemis crewed mission” by June 2022, according a letter from Kathryn Lueders, NASA’s Associate Administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, that was included in the report.
The agency released a statement on Tuesday addressing the report.
“Sending the first woman and first person of color to the lunar surface and establishing a long-term presence at the Moon under Artemis is a priority for NASA. The agency is evaluating the current budget and schedule for Artemis missions and will provide an update later this year,” according to the statement.
The goal to land the first woman and the next man on the moon was established by the Trump administration originally for 2028, then moved up to November 2024. In addition to adopting the goal, the Biden administration added seeking to land the first person of color on the moon to the program’s goal.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
