Obwohl es hier schon zahlreiche Vorläufer zum Thema "US Rückkehr zum Mond" gibt, siehe u.a.
Raumkapsel Orion u. Pläne der NASA
Pläne für Rückkehr zum Mond der NASA enthüllt
so zeigt diese Entwicklung so viele Brüche und Verzögerungen, dass eine Fortsetzung der alten Threads zum Thema kaum noch Sinn macht.
Im Jubiläumsjahr der ersten bemannten Mondlandung vor fünfzig Jahren spürt man wohl wachsenden Unmut über den schleppenden Fortschritt der laufenden Aktivitäten.
Der Vizepräsident der Regierung Mike Pence hat offenbar den Auftrag, politische Absichtserklärungen zum Thema Rückkehr der Amerikaner zum Mond abzugeben:
Pence calls for landing US astronauts on moon in 5 years (Update)
Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for landing astronauts on the moon within five years, an accelerated pace that would aim to put Americans on the lunar south pole.
Pence said NASA needs to achieve that goal "by any means necessary." Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council in Huntsville, Alabama, he said NASA rockets and lunar landers will be replaced by private craft, if required.
"It's time to redouble our effort," he said. "It can happen, but it will not happen unless we increase the pace."
Pence warned that if NASA can't put astronauts on the moon by 2024, "we need to change the organization, not the mission." The space agency must transform into a leaner, more accountable and more agile organization, and must adopt an "all-hands-on-deck approach," he said.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine assured Pence that NASA will do everything possible to meet the deadline. Some outside experts were skeptical of the new timeline.
"I will be astonished if this happens," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, noting that a lunar lander still needs to be designed, built and tested.
"That is a hard challenge on a five year time scale even without political budget infighting," he wrote in an email.
For decades, NASA has flip-flopped between the moon and Mars, a victim of changing presidential administrations. More recently, President Barack Obama targeted Mars as astronauts' next big destination, while President Donald Trump has favored the moon.
Trump will binnen fünf Jahren auf den Mond
Die US-Regierung drängt die Nasa zur Eile: Binnen fünf Jahren sollen Amerikaner wieder auf den Mond - damit ihnen China nicht zuvorkommt.