NASA Denies Trump’s Request to Send Astronauts Past the Moon on New Rocket.
NY Times
“In February, at the request of the Trump administration, NASA began studying whether it was possible to add crew for the first flight of its Space Launch System, a heavy-lift rocket under development for deep space missions.
On Friday, the space agency announced it would not. During a conference call with reporters, Robert M. Lightfoot Jr., the acting NASA administrator, said the change was technically feasible, but that the additional cost, time and risks outweighed the benefits. “It really reaffirmed the baseline plan we have in place is the best way to go,” he said.
Putting astronauts on the first flight would have added $600 million to $900 million to the $24 billion price tag, Mr. Lightfoot said, and delayed the launch until probably the first half of 2020.”
But, guys, couldn’t we speed up the process and save big bucks, by cutting back the crew to only one and not bringing the ship back? drumpf has expressed interest in exploring Mars anyway and he would feel right at home there…
And think of the headlines!
Brain function would be limited at best anyway, so a rudimentary life support system should be adequate, just some scuba gear and a space (heh) heater... some freeze dried burnt Trump Steaks and a laptop loaded with Russian Water-sport Porn should do the trick.
One small step for man, one giant sigh of relief for mankind.
Man up, NASA.