Jim Bridenstine
Marshall selected to lead NASA human lunar lander program
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center will manage the agency’s efforts to develop a lander needed to achieve the goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2024, an announcement overshadowed by political wrangling about what center should be responsible.
NASA seeks “industrialization” of low Earth orbit with ISS commercialization strategy
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says he believes the agency’s new strategy for increasing commercial use of the ISS will lead to an “industrialization” of low Earth orbit, although experts warn it may take time for those markets to emerge.
NASA announces Orion achievement on Apollo 11 anniversary
NASA and the White House used the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing to mark the latest achievement in the development of the Orion spacecraft and reaffirm plans to use it to return humans to the moon by 2024.
Artemis cost estimate won’t be ready until 2020
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told a Senate committee July 17 that a cost estimate for landing humans on the moon by 2024 likely won’t be ready until the administration submits a budget request next February.
Bridenstine says leadership changes linked to urgency in NASA’s exploration programs
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said he reassigned the agency’s human spaceflight head, Bill Gerstenmaier, because time was limited to address cost and schedule issues with the agency’s key exploration programs and still meet a 2024 deadline for returning humans to the moon.
Questions linger about reassignment of NASA exploration officials
NASA’s leadership offered few details July 11 about the sudden reassignment of two top officials in its human spaceflight program the day before, a move that drew criticism from leading House members.
Bridenstine to meet with international partners on lunar plans at Paris Air Show
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine plans to meet with international counterparts in Paris this week to discuss cooperation on the agency’s Artemis lunar program, but says those discussions are still in their early stages.
Bridenstine estimates Artemis cost at $20–30 billion
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a television interview June 13 that it will cost the agency an additional $20 billion to $30 billion to return humans to the moon, the first range of costs given by the agency for the program.
NASA offers mixed messages on future budgets
While NASA’s administrator says the Artemis lunar program won’t come at the expense of other projects, others at the agency warn that internal cuts will likely be needed to afford a human lunar return by 2024.
Bridenstine says debate only beginning over funding 2024 return to the moon
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the administration’s request to add $1.6 billion to the agency’s 2020 budget to start work on the Artemis lunar program was not “dead on arrival” despite a lack of action on it by House appropriators.
Bridenstine says $1.6 billion at “low end” of funding needed to keep 2024 lunar landing on schedule
A day after NASA unveiled an amended budget request to support a human landing on the moon in 2024, the agency’s leader warned that if Congress provided less than the request it increased the risk of missing that deadline.
Bridenstine plays down costs of 2024 moon landing
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told Senate appropriators May 1 that while the administration is not yet ready to release a revised budget that accommodates an accelerated human lunar landing program, the costs will not be as high as some rumors.
Scientists lobby NASA for additional planetary defense missions
Scientists used an appearance by the NASA administrator at a conference April 29 to press him to fund additional missions that support the agency’s work in discovering and characterizing near Earth objects.
Bridenstine outlines two-phase approach for accelerated lunar return
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agency’s approach to moving up a human lunar landing from 2028 to 2024 will focus first on speed and then on sustainability.
House committee presses Bridenstine for details on moon plan
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine faced criticism from some House members at an April 2 hearing who questioned the urgency of the administration’s plans to accelerate a human return to the moon and sought details about how much it will cost.
NASA warns Indian anti-satellite test increased debris risk to ISS
In the sharpest rebuke to date by a U.S. government official, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine criticized India’s recent anti-satellite test April 1, saying it created debris that posed a threat to the International Space Station.
