NASA’s Isaacman Says Lunar Partnerships Must Deliver “Meaningful Contributions”
NASA must make tougher decisions about when and how to work with international partners, NASA official Jared Isaacman said. Other countries can participate in NASA programs, he added, but only when they make meaningful contributions to the mission.
“But let me tell you, this is straight from the top, the president of the United States. We’re just making good deals; we haven’t always been making good deals,” Isaacman said.
Isaacman said NASA previously focused at times on including as many countries as possible to produce impressive announcements, even when that approach slowed missions rather than accelerating them.
“There was definitely a time when we were trying to make everyone happy, collect as many flags as you can to create an amazing press release, and definitely at times held the mission back rather than accelerating it,” he said. “You can’t do that, but we’ve changed that now and we’re getting good deals as a result.”
The top and rim of Shackleton Crater as seen from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The Moon’s south pole is near the upper-right edge of the image.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
What NASA considers a good international deal
Isaacman pointed to the agreement NASA signed with the Italian government in March to develop a lunar habitat as an example of a favorable partnership.
“They’re spending over $5 billion to build one of the first residential modules,” Isaacman said. “This is likely to be the first real habitation module to reach the lunar surface. As a result, we will see two Italian astronauts on the lunar surface.”
Japan is developing pressurized lunar rovers
Isaacman also said Japan is leading a NASA partnership to develop pressurized rovers capable of carrying astronauts across the Moon. Japan is spending billions of dollars on the vehicles and is expected to receive two opportunities for its astronauts to travel to the lunar surface.
The Japanese and U.S. governments signed an agreement on pressurized spacecraft in 2024.
“That’s the expectation we set on you,” Isaacman said. “You’re not just going to come in with a list and say, ‘I’ll do this,’ regardless of whether it helps the mission, whether it competes with U.S. industry, or regardless of what U.S. industry is trying to accomplish on the Moon. That doesn’t work. We need meaningful contributions now. The game has changed.”
Source: arstechnica.com