The sun rises behind Artemis I, NASA's heavy-lift lunar rocket system, as it sits temporarily grounded at pad 39- B at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Sept. 6, 2022. - Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS
ORLANDO, Fla. — NASA’s goal to reduce the costs of the powerful Space Launch System rocket for its Artemis program by 50% was called “highly unrealistic” and a threat to its deep space exploration plans, according to a report by NASA’s Office of the Inspector General released on Thursday. The audit says the costs to produce one SLS rocket through its proposed fixed-cost contract will still top $2.5 billion, even though NASA thinks it can shrink that through “workforce reductions, manufacturing and contracting efficiencies, and expanding the SLS’s user base.” “Given the enormous costs of the Ar...
