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Article snippet: NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket will not get off the ground until December 2019 at the earliest, and its maiden flight could easily slip to the middle of 2020, the space agency announced on Wednesday. The rocket known as the Space Launch System would succeed the Saturn 5 that took astronauts to the moon more than four decades ago. NASA says it plans to use the vehicle to take astronauts not only to the moon — one of the goals of the Trump administration — but someday Mars. Earlier this year, NASA acknowledged it would not be able to make the previously announced launch date of November 2018 for the first flight, which will not carry any astronauts. The completed review indicates a launch date of June 2020, but NASA said it might be possible to move up the launch date by six months. “This earlier launch date is reasonable and challenges the teams to stay focused on tasks without creating undue pressure,” William H. Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said at a hearing of the House space subcommittee on Thursday. “Furthermore, NASA is taking additional steps to reduce schedule risks for both known and unknown issues and protect for the earliest possible launch date.” At the request of the Trump administration, NASA examined the possibility of putting astronauts aboard the rocket’s first flight. But that would have further pushed back the launch date and added as much as $900 million to the program’s price tag. NASA and th... Link to the full article to read more