"I'll Be Damned If China Beats US To The Moon": NASA Chief Sean Duffy

NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy pushed back against recent critics who have suggested China will beat the US back to the moon, saying "I'll be damned" if that is the ultimate outcome of the decade's space race.

Duffy, who is also the US Secretary of Transportation, made the comments during an agency-wide address to NASA workers on Thursday, along with the agency's newly appointed associate administrator, Amit Kshatriya, according to an audio recording obtained by Bloomberg.

Representatives for NASA and the Transportation Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

During the meeting, Duffy addressed testimony from Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing that highlighted concerns over NASA's ability to return humans to the surface of the moon before China sends its own astronauts there. Jim Bridenstine, who served as NASA administrator during President Donald Trump's first term, told the committee that "it is highly unlikely" that the US will land back on the moon before China. 

"NASA won't beat China to the moon: That was the testimony yesterday. That was shade thrown on all of NASA," Duffy said. He added, "We are going to beat the Chinese to the moon. We are going to make sure that we do this safely. We're going to do it fast. We're going to do it right."

However, later in the meeting, Duffy said that NASA sometimes "can let safety be the enemy of making progress" and that the agency has to be able to "take some leaps."

China plans to land humans on the moon before 2030 and recently tested a new rocket it intends to use in its human lunar exploration initiative, Chinese state media reported.

Duffy also said the agency needs to bring down the cost of the human lunar exploration program, known as Artemis.

"At $4 billion a launch, it becomes very challenging to have a moon program," Duffy said, seemingly citing an estimate made by a 2021 NASA Inspector General report. "We have to do things more cost effectively."

Duffy suggested NASA would work with the agency's partners to bring costs down, in line with what the Trump administration called for in the president's budget request. 

The proposal said the US should phase out "the grossly expensive and delayed" Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule after their third flights, with the goal of replacing them with commercial alternatives. Both SLS and Orion are currently central to Artemis.

Duffy addressed the question of how long he'd serve as NASA administrator, noting he was "going to be here for the foreseeable future."

"I could be here, again, for one day, for one month. I could be here for one year," Duffy said. "And I'm not going to waste one day, one month, one year, to wait for someone else to come in."

The meeting touched on other topics that have affected NASA this year, including the deferred resignation program, which saw roughly 4,000 employees take buyout options. 

Duffy also discussed the significant proposed budget cuts to NASA. He said the agency can accomplish its goals with the reduced funding, but he would ask for more money from the administration and from Congress if NASA needs it.

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