Will Biden Back NASA's Artemis Program To Land Woman On Moon By 2024?

What does the regime change in Washington mean for NASA's ambitious plan to return astronauts to the moon? Though President-elect Joe Biden has not spelt out his space agenda clearly, policy experts think that a Democratic government may relax the deadline to send a female astronaut to the moon by 2024.

NASA's Artemis mission is a major a plank of Donald Trump's space policy that seeks to reduce reliance on the Russians by partnering with private carriers such as SpaceX. Vice President Mike Pence announced in 2019 that two astronauts would land near the lunar south pole.

"I expect the 2024 goal to go away," space policy expert John Logsdon told Space.com.

Biden has already implied that he sees NASA's position as being more focused on solving the global threat posed by climate change, an area deliberately ignored under Trump. This will undoubtedly entail more spending on new satellites and scientific research to track evolving weather conditions and rising sea levels and to cope with weather events induced by climate change.

A more aggressive, complementary strategy will be to engage in creating a permanent human existence in space, including on and around the moon, to promote the development of space-related clean energy resources, such as space-based solar energy.

In recent years, NASA has pushed for the Artemis mission and continued funding for the long-delayed James Webb Space Telescope. In addition, the space agency was able to support the commercial crew program, a new rover on the way to Mars and several other interplanetary missions like the Europa Clipper and Dragonfly missions.

The change of guard in the White House would also lead to administration changes in the space agency. Biden should recognize that every candidate would be subject to extra scrutiny, particularly with respect to their support for Artemis. Current administrator Jim Bridenstine's successor can't expect a walk in the park.