NASA is tweaking its Artemis moon base plans.
You can watch exactly how on May 26
They’re dropping an update Tuesday afternoon. Live stream. No re-runs promised, though the web remembers.
At 2 p.m. EDT that Tuesday—1800 GMT for everyone else—they’re hosting a presser from Washington, D.C headquarters. “To share Moon Base plans and highlight progress,” as the press release dryly put it earlier this week on the 20th.
A sustained presence. That’s the goal. Not a flag plant. Not a selfie. A stay.
Watch it at Space.com. Courtesy of NASA, naturally.
Expect the brass to talk shop. Progress, sure. But also new industry partners. New mission architectures.
The lineup speaks volumes:
* Jared Isaacman. NASA Administrator. The pilot turned chief.
* Lori Glaze. Acting associate administrator for Exploration Systems. She knows the hardware.
* Carlos García-Galán. Program executive for the Moon Base itself.
Why the urgency? Because Artemis is real now. It’s a decade-long play.
Get people to the moon, stay there, build the skills to hit Mars. The logic holds.
Two shots in the dark so far. Artemis 1 went uncrewed, circling the moon in late 2022. Artemis 2 followed suit last month with four astronauts, a flyby, and a safe return.
Good. But the next steps got messy.
Recall late March. Just before Artemis 2 launched, NASA hit pause on the Gateway station. You remember the name? The tiny orbital hotel they kept promising would orbit the moon for decades?
Gone. Or at least, stalled. Focus shifted to the surface.
Then came February. Jared Isaacman walked in and told the world Artemis 3 isn’t landing on the moon.
What?
The 2027 mission—slated for mid to late this coming year—won’t see bootprints on dust. Instead, the Orion capsule will test docking maneuvers with private landers in Earth orbit. SpaceX’s Starship. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon.
One or both. Or maybe neither, if things keep sliding.
Why change the play so close to launch?
Maybe because building a base while orbiting a station is too hard. Maybe because the hardware isn’t ready. Maybe because Isaacman wants to see the ships work before committing astronauts to the long ride out.
Whatever the reason, the landscape has shifted. The base is the prize. The Gateway was a detour. Artemis 3 is now a test run for logistics, not landing.
Watch Tuesday. Listen to the excuses.
Then see where the next billion dollars goes.
Mars waits, after all.
