NASA Still Plans to Use SLS for First Lunar Mission

I posted a while back about NASA looking to alternatives to its troubled Space Launch System for the planned first Lunar mission of its Orion spacecraft. They've now completed a preliminary review and it looks like there aren't any alternatives available that would save them time.

However, they are considering options that they may be able to exploit later. The article on NASA Spaceflight.com goes into quite a bit of detail. I do hope that they will explore alternatives to the SLS, whic is basically a boondoggle created to keep as many former Shuttle-era programs in business.

Still, the Administration is not closing the door on looking at alternate launch options for Orion, especially in light of the subsequently announced goal to land Americans on the Moon within the next five years.

“There is a solution here that could potentially work for the future,” Administrator Bridenstine said in a NASA agency-wide town hall meeting on April 1. “It would require time, it would require cost, and there is risk involved but guess what? If we’re going to land boots on the Moon in 2024, we have time and we have the ability to accept some risk, make some modifications, all of that is on the table.”

“There is nothing sacred here that is off the table and that is a potential capability that could help us land boots on the Moon in 2024.”