Spacesuits and Lawsuits Put 2024 Moon Landing in Jeopardy
NASA's Space Launch System intended to land American astronauts, including the first woman and the next man, on the Moon by 2024. Jude Guidry / NASA / AFP via Getty Images
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.—NASA may not land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 because two spacesuits won’t be ready on time and because losing bidders have protested the lunar lander contract, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Tuesday.
“The goal is 2024. We have just been held up for 100 days waiting for the protest” filed by Blue Origin and Dynetics to the Government Accountability Office over NASA’s decision to award the contract to SpaceX, Nelson said.. The protest had halted all work on the lander until GAO threw it out on July 30.
Even more critical than the legal delays, however, is a NASA inspector general report, released on Tuesday, that found the astronauts' spacesuits won’t be ready on time.
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