美国宇航局表示，其目标是在五年内将第一个女人和下一个男人送上月球。

美国宇航局局长吉姆·布赖登斯廷周五表示，阿拉巴马州的马歇尔航天飞行中心将作为美国航天局计划的总部，该计划旨在建造一艘航天器，在2024年之前将宇航员——男性和女性——送回月球。

布里登斯汀在一个149英尺高的太空发射系统火箭氢罐测试版前宣布了这一消息，该火箭将于2024年发射宇航员。

“这不是一个轻率的决定。十年多以来，亨茨维尔在着陆系统方面做了大量艰苦的工作，”布里登斯坦周五说。

早在五月，布里登斯坦就给这个项目命名了阿耳特弥斯并要求国会将美国宇航局2020财年(从10月1日开始)的预算增加16亿美元，其中大部分将用于人类登月系统的商业开发。这项努力可能在五年内耗资200亿至300亿美元。

阿拉巴马州的美国代表莫·布鲁克斯说周五，“马歇尔拥有其他美国宇航局中心没有的独特能力和专业知识。我很高兴美国宇航局选择马歇尔作为美国重返月球和迎来阿尔特弥斯时代的一个关键组成部分的先锋。感谢布里登斯汀行政官亲自前来分享这个好消息。”阿波罗登月飞船是半个世纪前在同一中心建造的。

包括亿万富翁企业家杰夫·贝佐斯的蓝色起源、伊隆·马斯克的太空探索公司(SpaceX)和洛克希德·马丁公司(Lockheed Martin)在内的公司正在开发月球着陆器的潜在组件，并将在今年晚些时候通过竞标争夺美国宇航局的资金。

新的登月任务是在美国航天局自航天飞机项目于2011年结束以来首次寻求从美国本土恢复载人航天任务之际进行的。美国宇航员尤金·塞尔南是1972年最后一个登上月球的人。

今年3月，副总统迈克·彭斯宣布了美国宇航局到2024年让宇航员重返月球表面的加速时间表，将之前到2028年到达月球的目标减半。

唐纳德·特朗普总统对这项任务的支持尚不明确。六月，总统敦促美国航天局转而关注“更大”的计划，比如去火星，削弱了他以前对月球计划的支持。

这一消息令德克萨斯州失望，该州一直在竞选该倡议的总部。得克萨斯州的立法者，包括参议员特德·克鲁兹，写了一份公开信布里登斯汀推动位于休斯顿的美国宇航局约翰逊航天中心领导开发。

 

NASA AIMS TO PUT FIRST WOMAN ON THE MOON BY 2024

NASA has said it will aim to put the first woman and the next man on the moon in five years.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Friday that the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama will serve as the headquarters for the U.S. space agency's program to build a spacecraft to put astronauts—male and female—back on the moon by 2024.

Bridenstine made the announcement in front of a test version of the 149 foot tall hydrogen tank for the Space Launch System rocket, which will launch the astronauts on their journey in 2024.

"This was not a decision that was made lightly. A lot of hard work has been done here in Huntsville, over—well over—10 years now, regarding landing systems," Bridenstine said on Friday.

Back in May, Bridenstine named the program Artemis and requested that Congress increase NASA's proposed budget for fiscal year 2020—which begins October 1—by $1.6 billion, much of which would be earmarked for commercial development of the human lunar landing system. The endeavor will likely cost between $20 and $30 billion over five years.

U.S. Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama said on Friday, "Marshall has unique capabilities and expertise not found at other NASA centers. I'm pleased NASA has chosen Marshall to spearhead a key component of America's return to the Moon and usher in the Artemis era. Thanks to Administrator Bridenstine for traveling here to share the great news in person." The Apollo lunar spacecraft was built at the same center half a century ago.

Companies, including billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Lockheed Martin, are developing potential components of the lunar lander, and will compete for NASA funds via competitive bidding later in the year.

The new lunar missions comes as NASA seeks to resume human space missions from American soil for the first time since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. Eugene Andrew Cernan, an American astronaut, was the last man to walk on the moon in 1972.

In March, Vice President Mike Pence announced an accelerated timeline for NASA to put astronauts back on the lunar surface by 2024, cutting in half a previous goal to get there by 2028.

President Donald Trump's support for the mission has been unclear. In June, the president urged NASA to focus instead on "much bigger" initiatives like going to Mars, undercutting his previous support for the lunar initiatives.

The news is a disappointment for Texas, which had been in the running to serve as headquarters for the initiative. Texas legislators, including Senator Ted Cruz, had written an open letter to Bridenstine pushing for NASA's Johnson Space Center—based in Houston—to lead the development.