The US space agency’s Artemis programme hopes to return humans to the Moon as China forges ahead with a rival effort that is targeting 2030 at the latest for its first crewed mission.
US President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House has seen the administration pile pressure on Nasa to accelerate its progress.
The Republican leader, who announced the Artemis programme during his first term, wants the US space agency to return to the Moon as soon as possible and also voyage to Mars.
Both efforts plan to eventually establish bases on the Moon.
The Trump administration has referred to a “second space race,” following the 20th-century Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
“There is a desire for us to return to the surface of the moon and to be the first to return to the surface of the moon,” Hawkins said, before emphasising that “Nasa’s objective” is “to do so safely”.
-Agence France-Presse