No manned Moon missions in the near future, says NASA chief

For anyone wanting to become an astronaut so they can walk on the Moon, you might have to look to someone other than NASA in order to accomplish your goal.

According to spacepolitics.com, NASA chief Charles Bolden spoke to representatives of the Space Studies Board and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of The National Academies on Thursday, and said "NASA will not take the lead on a human lunar mission."

"NASA is not going to the Moon with a human as a primary project probably in my lifetime," he added, according to the article. "And the reason is, we can only do so many things."

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Apparently, NASA is open to participating in manned Moon missions led by other agencies and organizations, but at this time their focus will be on Mars and on an asteroid retrieval mission. Also, Bolden warned that if the administration (this or a future one) changes their mind on this "it means we are probably, in our lifetime, in the lifetime of everybody sitting in this room, we are probably never again going to see Americans on the Moon, on Mars, near an asteroid, or anywhere. We cannot continue to change the course of human exploration."

This news is a little disappointing, as the moon is a logical destination for human space exploration. However Bolden has a point. NASA's budget will only allow the agency to focus on so many projects. Changing that focus in mid-stream would just be a waste of resources that may jeopardize future missions.

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Given the reports from last December, stating that NASA lacks focus, it seems that Bolden is providing that focus now. NASA already made it to the Moon, over 30 years ago, and there are other agencies and organizations now that are interested in going to the Moon (including private organizations like Moon Express), so NASA is focusing their goals beyond.

After all, NASA's vision is: "To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind," with emphasis on new heights.

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