NASA Picks SpaceX to Land Next Americans on Moon
NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface.
At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.
The agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit.
There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon. After approximately a week exploring the surface, they will board the lander for their short trip back to orbit where they will return to Orion and their colleagues before heading back to Earth.
The firm-fixed price, milestone-based contract total award value is $2.89 billion.
“With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women’s equality and long-term deep space exploration,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate. “This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars.”
SpaceX has been working closely with NASA experts during the HLS base period of performance to inform its lander design and ensure it meets NASA’s performance requirements and human spaceflight standards. A key tenet for safe systems, these agreed-upon standards range from areas of engineering, safety, health, and medical technical areas.
“This is an exciting time for NASA and especially the Artemis team,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for HLS at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “During the Apollo program, we proved that it is possible to do the seemingly impossible: land humans on the Moon. By taking a collaborative approach in working with industry while leveraging NASA’s proven technical expertise and capabilities, we will return American astronauts to the Moon’s surface once again, this time to explore new areas for longer periods of time.”
SpaceX’s HLS Starship, designed to land on the Moon, leans on the company’s tested Raptor engines and flight heritage of the Falcon and Dragon vehicles. Starship includes a spacious cabin and two airlocks for astronaut moonwalks. The Starship architecture is intended to evolve to a fully reusable launch and landing system designed for travel to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations.
The HLS award is made under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP-2) Appendix H Broad Agency Announcement (BAA).
In parallel with executing the Appendix H award, NASA intends to implement a competitive procurement for sustainable crewed lunar surface transportation services that will provide human access to the lunar surface using the Gateway on a regularly recurring basis beyond the initial crewed demonstration mission.
With NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft, HLS, and the Gateway lunar outpost, NASA and its commercial and international partners are returning to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation.
Working with its partners throughout the Artemis program, the agency will fine-tune precision landing technologies and develop new mobility capabilities to enable exploration of new regions of the Moon. On the surface, the agency has proposed building a new habitat and rovers, testing new power systems and more.
These and other innovations and advancements made under the Artemis program will ensure that NASA and its partners are ready for human exploration’s next big step—the exploration of Mars.
For more information about the human landing system, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/content/humans-on-the-moon-0
See more here nasa.gov
Header image: Brifly News
Editor’s note: the words highlighted in italics show NASA couldn’t resist virtue-signalling at every opportunity.
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Joseph Olson
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in the video, at 2:30 the Artemis will preposition “in space PROPELLANT transfer” craft for future landing operations. Despite 15% greater thrust than Saturn V, and 50 years of improved technology, LANDING AND RETURNING will take more fuel than Apollo. Question NASA.
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Howdy
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It’s tesla. The craft will be loaded with frivolous add-ons and other waste like the cars. Even the ship image is reminiscent of ‘Fireball XL5’. All they need now is an alien chimp and Robby the robot!
https://youtu.be/q0Zh8DfHMi0
Gone are the days of frugality and use of materials driven by need. NASA no better and desire to show off is the over-riding factor:
“first woman on the Moon. first person of color on the lunar surface.”
Seriously, who cares? I expected thirst for discovery was the force behind it? Backwards regressing humanity showing it’s best side.
“The firm-fixed price, milestone-based contract total award value is $2.89 billion.”
I’m pretty sure tax-payers would rather have the money spent on critical needs like the current state of life on Earth maybe?
Absolutely saddening waste on toys an games at the expense of living bodies…
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itsme
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Agree, these waste of money add ons are pointless, they should take a leaf out of the sixties – all they needed was tin foil
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Doug Harrison
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All this says to me is that Americans are obsessed with the colour of people’s skin.
However Howdy seems to have a good grip on the BS propagated by all such organisations while they are picking the taxpayer’s pocket.
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Heretic Jones
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If it were just skin color people would have been over it long ago.
It’s more and you know it.
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Wisenox
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Its an excuse to funnel taxpayer money into the enslavement grid.
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Sum Ting Wong
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Welp, it looks like the Never A Straight Answer propeller-heads finally figured out how to get humans past the Van Allen Radiation Belt without turning into glow-in-the-dark bacon bits. Finally . . . .
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Mario M
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It is not a money problem: we don’t have the technology to send people on the space, nor in the earth orbit nor on the moon.
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Rob
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I thought NASA had been to the moon?
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Kevin Doyle
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Elon Musk is getting paid $3 billion to go have a week at ‘summer camp’ on the Moon??
Why not give him half a billion to spend on hookers and cocaine in Vegas?
These exercises in ‘space exploration’ are childish and self-serving. They produce no meaningful result.
See definition of the word ‘pointless’.
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Rob
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They mean: The first Americans landing on the Moon>
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