WEBVTT - NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman Talks Lunar Efforts, New Moon Base

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>America will never again give up on the Moon. Those

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<v Speaker 2>are the words of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a

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<v Speaker 2>press conference this morning discussing new plans for the space Agency.

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<v Speaker 2>The core of it is twenty billion dollars of investment

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<v Speaker 2>over seven years, the focus to build a moon base.

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<v Speaker 2>But there is so much more to it than that.

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<v Speaker 2>And delighted to say that NASA Administrator Jarediseeman joins us

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<v Speaker 2>right now here at the Hill and Valley Forum, but

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<v Speaker 2>on Bloombogue Tech. You will not be surprise Administrator that

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<v Speaker 2>My first question is about money. Twenty billion dollars. Where

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<v Speaker 2>does it come from? And I guess you know your

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<v Speaker 2>plans have evolved pretty rapidly since you took post. What

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<v Speaker 2>does this figure signify in in how you're doing it differently?

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<v Speaker 1>Sure? I mean it's interesting. A lot of people think

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<v Speaker 1>MAASAID doesn't have the resources to execute on the mission,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm like, our appropriations this year is twenty five

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<v Speaker 1>billion dollars. Twenty five billion dollars an awful lot of money.

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<v Speaker 1>Not to mention, we received a ten billion dollar plus

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<v Speaker 1>up in the one Big Beautiful Bill which is probably

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most significant investments in human space exploration

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<v Speaker 1>that we've seen in an extremely long time. Bottom line is,

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<v Speaker 1>we have the resources, are we concentrating in the right direction.

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<v Speaker 1>Are we doing a lot of little things and getting

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<v Speaker 1>nowhere right? So we talked today, Hey, we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>hit pause on the on the Gateway, which was a

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<v Speaker 1>space station designed to orbit above the moon. We don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to orbit above the moon. We want to be

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<v Speaker 1>on the moon. We want to build a base. We

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<v Speaker 1>want to interact with the regular if we want to

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<v Speaker 1>do insitu resource manufacturing. We want to test out mobility

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<v Speaker 1>on the surface to power communications. We want to build

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<v Speaker 1>President Trump's moon base that he called for in the

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<v Speaker 1>National Space Policy. We have the resources to do this.

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<v Speaker 1>We have a lot of resources at NASA. We just

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<v Speaker 1>need to move them in the needle moving direction.

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<v Speaker 2>It's twenty billion over seven years, but all told, over

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<v Speaker 2>the decade thirty billion. Is this something that you've been

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<v Speaker 2>able to meet with Kong rest about and appropriate the

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<v Speaker 2>funds through that mechanism or it's just in the budget,

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<v Speaker 2>it's planned based on the annual appropriation that you outline.

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<v Speaker 1>This is within the resource availament of course, we try

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<v Speaker 1>and subscribe to a no surprise policy, so we never

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<v Speaker 1>you know, formulate these type of initiatives in a vacuum.

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<v Speaker 1>We met with our international partners that are supporting us

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<v Speaker 1>in our great return to the Moon. We met with

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<v Speaker 1>leaders from the author from authorizers in Congress, the appropriators,

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<v Speaker 1>the White House. Everybody gets fully aligned around how we're

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<v Speaker 1>going to achieve this. We talk about these kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>dollars and you look at it across our budget, this

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<v Speaker 1>is just small percentages of it. You know, we definitely

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<v Speaker 1>have the means within the resource available to achieve this.

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<v Speaker 1>You think about it. We have a Science Technology Mission

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<v Speaker 1>Director right, does lots of experimentation for future applications from

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon to Mars. Great, we're going to the Moon.

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<v Speaker 1>We concentrate STMD in that direction. We have a Science

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<v Speaker 1>Mission Director right, they have a CLIPS program. We do

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<v Speaker 1>lots of scientific missions on the Moon. Great, we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to move. We concentrate that on building the Moon base

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<v Speaker 1>and attaching scientific payloads. It's really across the board ESDMD,

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<v Speaker 1>which is tasked with the return to the Moon and

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<v Speaker 1>thinking through Mars. We've got a lot of resources there

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<v Speaker 1>from Gateway, especially since that.

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<v Speaker 2>Was plus type in the budget resource.

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<v Speaker 1>And we are repurposing that to the surface where we

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<v Speaker 1>all want to be. So NASA does not have a

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<v Speaker 1>top line problem. I can't emphasize that enough.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you, Administrator. You have gone fast your entire life.

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<v Speaker 2>You are building businesses in your parents' basement of the

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<v Speaker 2>age of sixteen. You dot shift for you. You move

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<v Speaker 2>at the speed of founder. Do your partners to artimist

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<v Speaker 2>partners move at the speed that you need them to.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, we've been talking to industry and we've been emphasizing

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<v Speaker 1>now is the time to act. We have to execute

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<v Speaker 1>with urgency. I've said it many times. President Trump and

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<v Speaker 1>his National Space Policy says we need to return to

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon. You know, before the end of twenty twenty eight.

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<v Speaker 1>Our great rival has said they will return before the

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<v Speaker 1>before twenty thirty. That means success and failure is measured

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<v Speaker 1>in months night years. We don't have time to do

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<v Speaker 1>things the way we used to do. We have to

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<v Speaker 1>get a gear. That's why I said during my keynote

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<v Speaker 1>this morning, we are not going to sit on our

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<v Speaker 1>hands at NASA and hope industry delivers. We are going

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<v Speaker 1>to do what we did in the nineteen sixties. We're

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<v Speaker 1>deploying our subject matter experts to every vendor, every subcontractor

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<v Speaker 1>every component on the critical path, not to be passive,

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<v Speaker 1>but active to drive outcomes. We're going to do this

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<v Speaker 1>with our commercial and international partners, your.

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<v Speaker 2>Great competitor being China. What do you need from a

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<v Speaker 2>supply chain perspective that you can't get your hands on

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<v Speaker 2>in the here and now? What keeps you up at

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<v Speaker 2>night in terms of meeting a mission?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, I look, I think it's there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>components on the supply chain that that we care an

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<v Speaker 1>awful lot about as you would expect. I mean, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>going to the Moon takes the contributions for many. When

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<v Speaker 1>we talk about building a moon base, we need hyper

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<v Speaker 1>golf thrusters. We were sending clips landers to the Moon

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<v Speaker 1>two or three times a year. I said this morning,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to go from bespoke and infrequent to templated

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<v Speaker 1>and routine, which means we're gonna need a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>hypergl thrusters. Right, So we are deploying this. This is

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<v Speaker 1>why we're deploying our subject matter experts into the field

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<v Speaker 1>with our partners to drive outcomes. Because if we wind

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<v Speaker 1>up in a situation where we're going over budget or

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<v Speaker 1>behind schedule, we are going to act. We're either gonna

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<v Speaker 1>act with our partners. We're gonna apply some of the

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<v Speaker 1>best and brightest minds from across the nation to build

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<v Speaker 1>the solution ourselves to get to the outcome.

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<v Speaker 2>You said this morning, and you've just reiterated that you've

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<v Speaker 2>asked industry to find ways to get back to the

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<v Speaker 2>Moon more rapidly. But I guess to try and make

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<v Speaker 2>that a little more crystallized. What are the benchmarks that

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<v Speaker 2>you'll hold them to, you know, what is it the

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<v Speaker 2>milestones that you need industry to hit, and then we

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<v Speaker 2>can get I guess onto the Ultimus program from the well.

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<v Speaker 1>I get. Let's break in two categories. So just returning

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<v Speaker 1>humans to the Moon, we said we got to get

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<v Speaker 1>at a pace of launching a moon rocket with greater

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<v Speaker 1>frequency than every three years. So we need you to

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<v Speaker 1>pull forward production, pull everything to the left, set up

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<v Speaker 1>for another mission. So Artemis two is going to launch

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<v Speaker 1>in a week and go around them moon. Artemis three

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<v Speaker 1>is going to be very alla, Apollo nine launch in

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<v Speaker 1>Earth orbit, rendezvous with one or two Landers, and then

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<v Speaker 1>we'll set up for Artemis four and five, which will

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<v Speaker 1>be a landing on the Moon in twenty twenty eight.

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<v Speaker 1>So we've spoken to industry and told them you have

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<v Speaker 1>to start pulling things to the left. We will again

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<v Speaker 1>deploy resources to help you in that process. We will

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<v Speaker 1>also rebuild core competencies so we can turn our launch

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<v Speaker 1>pad to meet launch cadence. But then there's also building

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<v Speaker 1>the moon base, which is lots of landings in Phase one,

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<v Speaker 1>which is our test and experimentation.

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<v Speaker 2>This is where reportings comes in.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, so this is where we've sent a demand signal

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<v Speaker 1>to industry today. Again not infrequent bespoke landers and rovers,

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<v Speaker 1>lots of them. Iterative approach land lots lots of landers,

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<v Speaker 1>lots of rovers, do experimentation, comms, navigation, mobility power. We'll

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<v Speaker 1>learn in phase one and form semi habitability in phase two.

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<v Speaker 1>Ultimately get to phase three where we're looking to have

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<v Speaker 1>that enduring presence on the Moon. This is the demand

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<v Speaker 1>signal we're sending the industry.

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<v Speaker 2>Industries responding Straits of Bloomberg reported this month that there

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<v Speaker 2>are two proposals on your desk, so to speak, one

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<v Speaker 2>from Blue Origin and one from SpaceX different mechanisms for

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<v Speaker 2>future missions that relate to the Moon in simple terms.

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<v Speaker 2>In the proposal that Bloomberg reported, which related to SpaceX,

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<v Speaker 2>starship would be involved in some capacity with future missions

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<v Speaker 2>going in lower orbit, combining with Orion, and propelling the

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<v Speaker 2>combined entity to the Moon. What are the status of

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<v Speaker 2>those proposals and what can you say about them? And

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<v Speaker 2>why to those two proposals came up in the first place.

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<v Speaker 1>So we you know, my predecessor asked industry, what are

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<v Speaker 1>your acceleration pathways? Because again we don't have the time here.

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<v Speaker 1>Now I will compliment both SpaceX and Blue Origin are

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<v Speaker 1>not trying to build a lander to put boots on

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<v Speaker 1>the ground to plant the flag and pick up rocks.

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<v Speaker 1>They're building landers that allow us to put lots of

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<v Speaker 1>mass on the Moon so we can build the base,

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<v Speaker 1>have an enduring presence to go far beyond where we

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<v Speaker 1>went with Apollo, and be able to undertake frequent and

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<v Speaker 1>affordable missions to the surface. So, in fairness, they are

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<v Speaker 1>taking on a technically complex approach. We did ask how

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<v Speaker 1>can you accelerate? How can you simplify? Both have come

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<v Speaker 1>back with options that kind of buy down some of

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<v Speaker 1>the technical risks, and in both cases it means different

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<v Speaker 1>orbits NRHO, which NASA originally designed in part to support

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<v Speaker 1>the gateway nobody likes.

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<v Speaker 2>And emitiate Layman's terms. And HRO is the path around

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<v Speaker 2>the Moon. Could you just explain that that right?

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<v Speaker 1>It is a relatively stable orbit around the Moon. If

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<v Speaker 1>you were going to put a Moon space station, that's

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<v Speaker 1>where you would put it, which was our kind of

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<v Speaker 1>agenda up until now, where we're concentrating on an actual

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<v Speaker 1>base on the Moon, it had less aboard options to

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<v Speaker 1>come home. It came, as we would say, a DV penalty,

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<v Speaker 1>or it had it came with a performance penalty, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>for both SpaceX and Blue Origin to actually get to.

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<v Speaker 1>So it didn't really help anyone in that one of

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<v Speaker 1>our HLS, one of our landing providers came back and said,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd rather meet you in a different lunar orbit, and

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<v Speaker 1>the other one said I'd rather meet you into a

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<v Speaker 1>high Earth orbit. In either scenario, it doesn't change the

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<v Speaker 1>fact that Oriyan is going to get to those landers

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<v Speaker 1>via the Space Launch System.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just the NHRO is not included in either plan.

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<v Speaker 1>Correct.

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<v Speaker 2>Can we speak a little bit about Mars before we

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<v Speaker 2>run out of time?

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<v Speaker 1>We have a really exciting mission to Mars.

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<v Speaker 2>Explain it and there is there is a date, so

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<v Speaker 2>there is a timeline for it, which I was a

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<v Speaker 2>little surprised at.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so we will never give up an opportunity to

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<v Speaker 1>go to Mars during the planetary alignment window. The next

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<v Speaker 1>one comes in twenty twenty eight. We've got a Mars

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<v Speaker 1>Telecommunication Network orbiter that's going to Mars in twenty eight

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<v Speaker 1>which will carry a science payload. We have a joint

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<v Speaker 1>mission with ISA, the Rosalind Franklin Rover, which is going

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<v Speaker 1>to go search an anal you know, search for our

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<v Speaker 1>or potentially organic matter like it's a part of our

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<v Speaker 1>larger quest for looking for life out in the universe.

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<v Speaker 1>And then the big announcement today is we are launching

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<v Speaker 1>the first nuclear interplanetary spacecraft, nuclear electric powered spaceship and

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to drop the Skyfall payload, which is Ingenuity

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<v Speaker 1>class helicopters on Mars. He did it well, shared Aiascman,

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<v Speaker 1>NASA Administrator, with a lot of news