House Committee Backs Moon-to-Mars, But Changes May Be Needed

Republicans and Democrats on a key House committee made clear today their support for NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the lunar surface — and only then go on to Mars — is solid. But the need to move faster was a dominant theme, especially to ensure U.S. astronauts are back on the Moon before China’s taikonauts arrive by 2030. Changes may be needed as NASA implements the first Trump Administration’s directive to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon with commercial and international partners.

Calling the Moon “a crucial stepping stone,” Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) said “every step we take towards the Moon is a giant leap towards Mars.”  The new chair of the space subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee vowed to conduct strong oversight to ensure NASA is spending every dollar wisely, but “we are in a race to the Moon” with China and “I refuse to let a communist dictatorship set the rules of the road for the future of space.”

Ranking Member Valerie Foushee (D-NC) agreed on the importance of Artemis and the need for the United States and its international partners to set the standards for responsible behavior and best practices in space exploration, but “improvements and corrections — and I mean with a scalpel not a chainsaw” to Artemis are needed to succeed.

The hearing was notable for the absence of a witness from NASA. Foushee said she was “disappointed that NASA chose not to send a witness to testify today, despite being invited. I certainly hope such practice does not continue. Full transparency with Congress and the American public on an effort as important as Artemis is of the utmost importance.”  Criticizing the Trump Administration’s treatment of federal workers, she vowed not to “sit idly” and let the government “including NASA — a crown jewel — be destroyed” or “stand for handing the keys to lunar exploration to China.”

The two witnesses were veterans of the past two decades of efforts to get back the Moon who no longer work for the government, Scott Pace and Dan Dumbacher. Both played critical roles at NASA in the George W. Bush Administration’s Constellation program. Dumbacher stayed at NASA and led the early years of the congressionally-directed Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule (SLS/Orion) program during the first part of the Obama Administration before leaving for academia (Purdue). He later was CEO of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and recently returned to Purdue.  Pace left the government for academia as well, becoming Director of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute. In 2017, he returned to government as Executive Secretary of the National Space Council during Trump’s first term, and went back to GW at the end of 2020.

The Artemis program originated in the National Space Council, which was chaired by then-Vice President Mike Pence.  The plan was to use the SLS/Orion system to transport astronauts between Earth and lunar orbit, but rely largely on Public-Private Partnerships for getting down to and back from the surface, lunar spacesuits, and building the U.S. segments of the Gateway lunar space station.

Pace expressed support for SLS/Orion for the next two missions, Artemis II and III that are scheduled for 2026 and 2027 respectively, but for future it “is time to consider alternatives for going from the Earth to the Moon and returning.”

“The current Artemis program presents very complex challenges, especially for the systems engineering and integration required to incorporate commercial and international partner contributions. A primary concern is the Space Launch System (SLS), which is not reusable. It has had one flight, but has trouble supporting one flight per year, much less congressional targets of two “cores” per year. A second mobile launch platform (MLP-2) and the Exploration Upper Station [sic] for the SLS Block 2 are behind schedule. Cores for the Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 missions, involving crews flying around the Moon and then landing, are well along. But it is time to consider alternatives for going from the Earth to the Moon and returning.” — Scott Pace, written testimony

An “off-ramp” is needed to replace SLS with reusable commercial rockets that can put 45 metric tons into Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI), Pace said, something he didn’t think was feasible when Artemis began, but “today the situation is different, with heavy-lift options from SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance.”

Dumbacher’s concern is more about SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System (HLS) than SLS.  China has set 2030 as the date to land their first taikonauts on the Moon.  Dumbacher agrees it’s imperative for the U.S. to get back there first, but doubts SpaceX’s Human Landing Systems (HLS) will be ready in time.

Unlike SLS, Starship cannot go directly to the Moon, but must refuel in Earth orbit. Orbiting fuel depots don’t exist yet and transferring cryogenic propellants in microgravity hasn’t been demonstrated. Dumbacher said NASA’s plan is for a total of 40 Starship launches for the required uncrewed flight test to the lunar surface followed by the Artemis III crewed landing.

“The question becomes: Can 40 launches, development and demonstration of the undeveloped and undemonstrated on-orbit rocket fuel station, and integration of a complex operational scenario across multiple systems, all successfully occur by 2030? Any objective assessment, including my own view, concludes that our approach today has a very low probability to match the “before 2030” milestone for landing humans on the moon. In other words, the probability of the United States safely landing humans on the moon by 2030, with the current plan, is remote at best.” — Dan Dumbacher, written testimony

The witnesses and members raised many other issues including the geopolitical importance of Artemis for U.S. national security, the need for acquisition and regulatory reform so the government can move faster, and the need for adequate resources. The bottom line was to stay the course from a policy standpoint (Moon then Mars), but acknowledge the problems with the existing program and expeditiously find solutions so Americans will be back on the Moon before China.

Although no one from NASA was at the hearing, NASA’s Moon-to-Mars program manager, Amit Kshatriya, participated in a seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday. Expressing optimism that no dramatic pivots were on the horizon, he acknowledged that “increasing decision velocity” is critical for Artemis. He cited acquisition as a particular stumbling block, joking that young people come into the space program because they think rockets are amazing and want to be part of it “but at the end of the process they’ll realize that studying acquisition reform is probably the way” to make a program work.

He’s excited about the new leadership coming into NASA and with the support of President Trump and Congress it’ll lead to “more energy” behind the program. “Then it’s just about our performance. There’s so much room for us to get better, to get more efficient, to get smarter, to bring in more capability, to spread the capacity all over the place.”