What Next | Daily News and Analysis Are We Over the Moon?
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Jan 4, 2026 Joel Achenbach, a seasoned journalist and author of 'Moondoggle', delves into NASA's Artemis program. He highlights the public's confusion over lunar and Mars missions and why it's crucial to prioritize the moon as a testing ground for Mars exploits. Achenbach discusses the political and budgetary hurdles NASA faces, alongside the intricate architecture of Artemis, including the SpaceX lunar lander plans. He also examines the impact of competition with China and the waning interest in space among younger generations, emphasizing lessons for Earth.
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Starship Lander Brings New Risks
- SpaceX won the lunar lander contract to adapt Starship's upper stage as the Human Landing System.
- Using Starship requires unproven orbital refueling and many challenging technical steps before crewed landings.
Validate Refueling Before Crew Flights
- Prove orbital cryogenic refueling with uncrewed tests before committing crew to the Starship lander architecture.
- Engineers should validate refueling reliability because it has never been demonstrated for crewed missions.
Landing Timeline Has Slipped
- Artemis's original 2024 landing goal slipped and the near-term plan is a crewed lunar flyby in Orion without a landing.
- A crewed landing before January 2029 now appears unlikely given lander delays.