The United States Aerospace Agency, NASA, selected Elon Musk’s company SpaceX to build the spacecraft with which it plans to return humans to the Moon in this decade.
The vehicle will transport the next man and the first woman to the lunar surface, according to the Artemis program of the space agency.
Another of the The goals of the program will be to bring the first person of color to the Moon.
The design of the lunar rover is based on SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft, which is being tested at an experimental station at the South Texas.
SpaceX was competing against a joint tender made up of traditional aerospace giants and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon company, as well as a proposal from Dynetics, an Alabama-based technology company.
The total value of the contract awarded to Musk’s company is $ 2, 890 million dollar es .
“With this selection, NASA and our partners will complete the first manned demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward toward women’s equality and long-term exploration of deep space, ”stated Kathy Lueders, the agency’s director of human exploration.
“ This critical step places humanity on the path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps us focused on the furthest missions in the Solar System, including Mars. ”
The Artemis program, initiated during the Donald Trump administration, aimed to return to the lunar surface in 2024. But a budget deficit for funding the moon landing system has pushed that goal away.
Elon Musk has been developing the Starship design for years. Akin to rockets from the golden age of sci-fi cinema, it’s a crucial element in the billionaire businessman’s long-term plans to populate Mars with humans.
For now, though, it will do. of a lunar landing module that will transport astronauts from a lunar orbit to the surface of the satellite.
With a spacious cabin and two decompression chambers, which will allow the astronauts to leave for their moonwalks, is very different from the skeletal lunar module (ML) that posed 12 men on the Moon with the US Apollo program between 1969 Y 1972.
The new vehicle will be known as the Human Landing System (HLS).
In recent times, NASA had chosen more than a company to obtain transportation services, l or that it gave him options in case one of these did not meet the objectives.
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But NASA only received U $ 850 million dollars of the $ 3, 300 million that he requested from Congress to build the lunar lander. In a statement, Lueders said that “while the agency’s desire continues to be to preserve a competitive environment during this stage of the HLS program,” its current budget prevented it from selecting two companies, as expected.
Cost is believed to have been an important factor; SpaceX’s bid was the lowest “by a wide margin” among the three competitors.
Lueders explained: “I determined that it would be in the best interest of the agency to make this initial conditional selection of SpaceX.” .
The decision has caused a stir in Congress.
NASA undergoes a transition of power after the election of President Joe Biden. It is being run by an interim administrator and the one appointed by Biden to run the agency – former senator and ex-astronaut Bill Nelson – will have to be confirmed by hearings in Congress next week.
“I’m disappointed that NASA’s interim leadership decided to grant such a commission before the arrival of the new and permanent managers and assistant manager of NASA, ”said Democratic Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who chairs the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. .
“The decision to award the commission today also happens despite the obvious need to reexamine NASA’s lunar exploration program, which has no real possibility of returning with US astronauts. to the Moon for 5927 ” .
The south polar region of the Moon will be NASA’s target for the first moon landing of astronauts since 1972. This area contains abundant reservoirs of frozen water , which could be converted into rocket fuel and fresh air to support a future lunar base.
But landing there also presents challenges, because the angle of the Sun casts long shadows that obscure the surface topography as the spacecraft descends.
Engineers will have to solve the problem as they refine their plans. for the first landing of the Artemis program.
SpaceX was in the race against the National Team – made up of Blue Origin (founded by Bezos), Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Daper – and the project contractors defense Dynetics.
The commission represents another milestone for the company founded ago 19 years by Musk , which had to overcome a broad initial skepticism about its plans to cut the costs of spaceflight. SpaceX narrowly ran out of money but managed to stay afloat thanks to a serendipitous NASA contract at .
Since then, he has achieved tremendous success with the launch of commercial satellites and landed a lucrative contract to transport crew members to the International Space Station .
Currently, the Starship vehicle is being tested at a facility in Boca Chica, South Texas. A series of unmanned prototypes have been launched at altitudes of km or more, before returning them for a smooth descent attempt and landing. However, the latest tests have ended with the vehicles exploding , either near or on the descent platform.
“This is an exciting time for NASA and especially for the Artemis team,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, director of the Human Landing System program, at the Marshall Space Flight Center, of NASA, in Huntsville.
“During the Apollo program, we verified that it is possible to achieve what seemed impossible: bringing humans to the surface of the Moon. Through a collaborative strategy, working with industry and taking advantage of NASA’s proven technical capabilities and expertise, we will bring American astronauts to the surface of the Moon once more, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time. ” .
The Artemis program seeks to establish a long-term presence on the Moon , including the creation of a lunar base.
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