Because of anticipated delays in spacesuit development, it is "not feasible" for NASA to land humans on the moon by the agency's hopeful deadline of 2024, a new report from the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) has found.
Photo courtesy NASA
The above notice is from an article at Space.com regarding a new report indicating that NASA may not be ready for it's scheduled 2024 moon launch because the space suits will not be ready in time.
"NASA's current schedule is to produce the first two flight-ready xEMUs by November 2024, but the agency faces significant challenges in meeting this goal," the audit reads. However, it adds, given anticipated delays in spacesuit development, "a lunar landing in late 2024 as NASA currently plans is not feasible."
The cost for these suits alone will be over a billion dollars. Cost isn't the only obstacle, there is also a need to test the suits and verify their effectiveness in protecting the explorer astronauts. The testing and verification process will take 20 months.
The way I see it is that if it really takes this much trouble to make a space suit, how did we accomplish those early moon walks beginning in 1969.
Now I myself am on record as being a believer in that momentous event 50 years ago when Armstrong and Aldrin touched down on the lunar surface. Neverthelsss, stories like this one could easily raise doubts in the minds of those who feel less confident about the historical record.
If I'm not mistaken, enough time has passed to open all the sealed documents about these events. The Freedom of Information Act was theoretically designed to provide journalists access to information that had previously been concealed. If it really were a hoax you'd think someone would have uncovered more "aha!" insights by now.
Heres the original story from Space.com:
US astronaut moon landing 'not feasible,' by 2024 due to spacesuit delay, NASA's inspector general finds
Related Links
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3 comments:
They haven't developed suits yet, and it isn't feasible for them to develop suits in time for 2024.
What did they wear in 1969?
That's what they said.
and
that's a good question...
2+2 = 4
(said Winston Smith)
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