Trump's plan to send an astronaut to the moon was reportedly delayed. NASA blames ESA of the delay, while Dr. Zubrin blames NASA.
The Daily Caller reported on the latest situation causing the delay of President Donald Trump's plan to send an astronaut to the moon on his term. The said mission was pushed in late 2018 due to the variety of technical and budget factors. But the worst is, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA blames the failures on the European Space Agency or ESA.
According to Mail Online, the main reason why NASA blames it on ESA is the delay of the first two Orion missions to Mars, that was supposed to be in 2018 for an unmanned and 2021 for manned. It is for the reason of technical and budget challenges that ESA, the agency which is building the Orion is facing.
NASA Inspector General claims that the delays in the development of the Orion for the EM-1 by the European Space Agency are the leading factor in the delay of Trump's plan to send an astronaut to the moon. Additionally, the IG added that there are still technical risks that increase the delay factor due to the design of Orion's heat shield.
On the other hand, Dr. Robert Zubrin, who have helped design plans for NASA's manned mission to Mars claims and opposite point. Dr. Zubrin said that it was NASA who lacks any useful plan for the Space Launch System or SLS as well as the Orion that causes the delay of the Trump's plan to send an astronaut to the moon.
Dr. Zubrin stated, "The problem is not that SLS and Orion are late. But, actually, NASA currently lacks any plans to employ them for useful." Dr. Zubrin believes that it was the NASA and not the ESA which is currently in the state of doing things in order to spend money and not spending money to do things. He further mentioned that NASA has no well-defined goal forTrump's plan to send an astronaut to the moon.