when will we get back

personal musing not official nasa position.

Was finally taking the nerd tree down yesterday and the ornament stuck me especially since I was at a 50th anniversary brainstorming meeting just last Friday. obviously no one is going to make a trip before the 50th anniversary. heck maybe not even a robotic lander as part of Google Lunar X Prize by next year. So when will some country take that next giant leap for humanity?

The president has asked for us to go back to the Moon, not just for flags and footprints but to live and explore. ESA, JAXA and others talk of a Moon Village, but NASA seems beholden to a questionable gateway station in cislunar orbit. A concept only rolled out last year not something decades in the making, yet when the president asks about getting to the Moon we dont have an answer nor do we seem inclined to work it too hard without a NASA administrator in place. One would think the president would want a plan that gets us there by the 55th anniversary as 2024 would be the end of a potential second term, but with a lack of urgency or a plan coming together the clock is quickly ticking down on that deadline.

Or is the plan to slow roll the president and his space council and expect a regime change in 2020 that takes the implicit Moon deadline off the table and we go back to coasting on our laurels and getting out there at some snail's pace that is driven more by money spent in certain districts/projects than actual exploration goals and milestones.

BOM24 clock is ticking but are we even listening?