Kenneth Chang

The most audacious thing about NASA's plan to return to the Moon is that it seeks to move schedules left instead of to the right. By four years. Unheard of in aerospace, but worth a try.

We'll know pretty quickly whether it has any legs. Budget process over the next couple of months will be telling. Aerospace companies need to be cutting metal on landers in 2020. And if/when the first SLS launch slips back out of 2020, big changes will be needed.

My sense is that by setting a firm date for the EM-1 launch in 2020, Bridenstine is establishing the rationale to cancel the program if it continues to under-perform.