Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Blue Label Telecoms to change its name as restructuring gathers pace

      11 July 2025

      Get your ID delivered like pizza – home affairs’ latest digital shake-up

      11 July 2025

      EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

      11 July 2025

      Apple plans product blitz to reignite growth

      11 July 2025

      Nissan doubles down on South Africa despite plant uncertainty

      11 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Science » US wants astronauts back on the moon within five years

    US wants astronauts back on the moon within five years

    By Marcia Dunn27 March 2019
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    Apollo 15 Lunar Module pilot James B Irwin salutes while standing on the surface of the moon on 30 July 1971 (Nasa/AP)

    US Vice President Mike Pence has called for American astronauts to return to the moon within five years. Pence is calling for an accelerated pace by the US space agency Nasa towards the goal of putting Americans on the lunar south pole.

    He said Nasa needs to achieve this outcome “by any means necessary”.

    Speaking at a meeting of the National Space Council in Huntsville, Alabama, he said Nasa rockets and lunar landers will be replaced by private craft, if required.

    “It’s time to redouble our effort. It can happen, but it will not happen unless we increase the pace,” he said.

    It’s time to redouble our effort. It can happen, but it will not happen unless we increase the pace

    The earliest possible landing on the moon by Nasa is not until 2028, Pence said, acknowledging that talent — and money — will be necessary to achieve this sooner.

    Pence warned that if Nasa cannot put astronauts on the moon by 2024, “we need to change the organisation, not the mission”.

    He said the US space agency must transform into a leaner, more accountable and more agile organisation, and must adopt an “all-hands-on-deck approach”.

    Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine assured Pence that Nasa will do everything possible to meet the deadline. However, some outside experts were sceptical of the new timeline.

    ‘Will be astonished’

    Jonathan McDowell, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said: “I will be astonished if this happens.”

    He noted that a lunar lander still needs to be designed, built and tested. “That is a hard challenge on a five-year time scale even without political budget infighting,” he said.

    This northern hemisphere summer marks the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing. Since Apollo astronauts last walked on the moon in 1972, no country has made a serious attempt to send humans back to the lunar surface.

    Mike Pence

    For decades, Nasa has switched focus back and forth from the moon to Mars, a victim of changing presidential administrations. More recently, former President Barack Obama targeted Mars as astronauts’ next big destination, while his successor at the White House, Donald Trump, has favoured the moon.

    To get astronauts on the moon by 2024, Bridenstine said the space agency’s new mega rocket will be needed, but its development and pace will need to be faster.

    Two weeks ago, he said Nasa was considering using private rockets instead to launch its new Orion capsule around the moon without a crew on a test flight next year.

    It took just eight years for Nasa to accomplish everything to put astronauts on the moon in July 1969

    However, he expressed confidence that the SLS, or Space Launch System, would be ready for the job. He also stressed the need for an outpost with astronauts near the moon to serve as a stepping-off point for lunar landings. It took just eight years for Nasa to accomplish everything to put astronauts on the moon in July 1969. It is unacceptable, Pence said, that SLS delays and cost overruns point to a 2028 target date — two decades after the SLS programme began.

    The vice president instructed Nasa to aim to land on the moon’s south pole, where considerable amounts of ice could be used for drinking and making rocket fuel.

    ‘Americans lead’

    The US vice president declared: “The exploration of the heavens in this still new century will go forward with or without the United States. But Americans don’t do second place. Americans lead, and so we will.”

    Planetary scientist Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute, said 2024 is a feasible target — provided the accelerated effort is funded properly and commercial space systems are fully embraced.

    However, former Nasa official Scott Hubbard said the five-year time limit seems “awfully short to me”, given the lack of national security incentives like the ones that existed during Apollo and the Cold War race to beat the Soviets to the moon.



    Jim Bridenstine Mike Pence Nasa
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleMoney will become intelligent and programmable
    Next Article Cars & Gadgets: Driving Jaguar’s R1.7-million I-Pace electric SUV

    Related Posts

    Why car companies like Toyota are turning to space

    14 February 2025

    Bookmarks | The number of new mobile internet users is stalling

    25 November 2024

    Bookmarks | Firefox at 20 – does Mozilla’s browser still matter?

    14 November 2024
    Company News

    $125-trillion traded: Binance redefines global finance in just eight years

    11 July 2025

    NEC XON welcomes HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks

    11 July 2025

    LTE Cat 1 vs Cat 1 bis – what’s the difference?

    11 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.