Over the course of the last week, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration(NASA) tried twice to launch their ambitious Artemis I mission to the moon, but failed on both occasions.
The first failed attempt was on Monday when engineers detected two problems with the launcher- a hydrogen fuel leak and a temperature issue. One of the engines was just too hot for take off.
Four days later, on Friday to be precise, they tried again and again engineers detected another fuel leak, hours before the launch and again it was cancelled.
According to Mike Sarafin, the Manager of the Artemis Mission at NASA, the mission is an incredibly difficult mission and it is part of the initial hitches. He however insisted that they are “learning the vehicle…and all of the things required to make us ready to fly.”
NASA, however said it will require no fewer than two weeks interval to get ready for another launch. This pushes the potential launch to late September or even as far as October.
Whatever happens, this speaks volumes about NASA. The United States’ premier space exploration powerhouse is clearly not the body it used to be. If anything, the issues at NASA paint a bigger problem of what is wrong with the USA as a once super power.
In the last century, when technology was not as advanced as it is today, NASA was the pinnacle of Space exploration. They landed people on the moon, they landed robots on Mars, they sent shuttles into deep space and even fought off alien invasions on the big screens.
But now, they can’t even launch a rocket, not to talk of placing it in orbit or landing it on the moon.
As we reported on August 29, the Artemis program is a series of three missions designed and planned by NASA and are aimed at launching their next phase of space exploration.
The first one which was postponed on Saturday was supposed to be unmanned. While the second one, Artemis II in 2024 is intended to carry a human crew to the moon, circle it and return. While the final one, billed for 2025 and dubbed Artemis III, was designed to land humans on the moon, including the first woman and the first person of colour.
Artemis I iss billed to cost $4.1billion. By 2025, the expenses will be in the excess of $93billion. The question is, what for? From all indications this is just one of America’s many white elephant projects aimed at trying to reassert themselves as the pacesetters and the powerful nation it once was.
For a nation that successfully landed people on the moon as far back as 1969, it can be deduced from this colossal failure that America’s space supremacy is sliding.
Even Barack Obama, back in 2010, dismissed the idea of a trip back to the moon as useless and a waste of funds. But NASA, according to information on their website, claims “we are going back to the moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and aspiration for a new generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation…while maintaining American leadership in exploration.”
What an expensive way to inspire people. And as for resources on the moon, the moon hasn’t changed much since the last time man was there. As for being leaders in space exploration, you get the sense of a dying man trying to throw his final punches in a bid to hold unto life, in the case of America, remain relevant.
So why is NASA doing it? Perhaps to keep her over 17, 000 employees employed. Secondly, the Artemis Mission is a vanity project. The USA is not the conquering super power it used to be in the mid to late 20th century. It is losing the technology race to China. So what best way to show off? Unveil a typical American project, big, wasteful, expensive and pointless. If this was a bid to reassert NASA supremacy and at some extent, that of the USA, the Artemis Mission has only done the opposite.
