Tag: Moon
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Elon Musk taunts Jeff Bezos over Blue Origin’s challenge to SpaceX’s contract for lunar lander
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos have been rivals in space for a decade. (Musk Photo: TED via YouTube; Bezos Photo: GeekWire / Kevin Lisota) The billionaire space battle just got kicked up a notch, with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture challenging NASA’s award of a $2.9 billion lunar…
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After NASA taps SpaceX’s Starship for first Artemis landings, agency looks to on-ramp future vehicles
Following a year of testing and development, NASA recently selected SpaceX’s Starship-based Human Landing System (HLS) to land astronauts on the moon under the Artemis program. SpaceX’s proposal was the highest rated and lowest cost offering among three studied designs, the others provided by Blue Origin’s National Team and Dynetics. In contrast to NASA’s stated…
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NASA chooses SpaceX to land next astronauts on the Moon
Artist’s concept of a Starship on the moon. Credit: SpaceX NASA has selected SpaceX to build a spacecraft to land the first astronauts on the Moon since 1972, choosing Elon Musk’s space company over competing proposals from Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and the aerospace firm Dynetics, officials announced Friday. A derivative of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship…
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NASA awards $2.9B to SpaceX for Starship lunar lander; Blue Origin team is left out
An artist’s conception shows SpaceX’s Starship rocket ship on the moon. (SpaceX Illustration) In a surprise move that was dictated by budget constraints, NASA is awarding $2.89 billion to SpaceX alone for the development of its Starship super-rocket as a lunar landing system for astronauts — leaving out Alabama-based Dynetics as well as a team…
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Lasers on the moon? Nuclear rockets? NASA awards millions for way-out tech
Future spaceships could use nuclear thermal propulsion to get to Mars quickly. (Illustration via USNC-Tech) NASA’s latest crop of space technology grants will fund work on projects ranging from power-beaming lasers for lunar missions to high-temperature testing of components for nuclear-powered rockets. Those are just a couple of the 365 concepts attracting a total of…
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will give NASA a spin in lunar gravity on suborbital flight
A drone’s eye view shows Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship lifting off for a test flight. (Blue Origin Photo) With backing from NASA, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture will upgrade its New Shepard suborbital spaceship to provide lunar levels of gravity for future experiments. “Humanity has been dreaming about artificial gravity since…
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NASA backs concepts for deep-drilling Mars rover and interstellar-object probe
An illustration shows the deployment of an autonomous borebot into a layered deposit on Mars. The inset shows a closeup of the borebot drive system. (Planet Enterprises Illustration / James Vaughan) The latest crop of NASA-backed concepts for far-out space exploration includes “borebots” that could drill as far as a mile beneath the Martian surface…
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NASA completes Exploration Upper Stage CDR, focuses new office on SLS Block 1B development
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Program and prime contractor Boeing have a new framework in place to finish development of the next version of the new launch vehicle, called Block 1B. The biggest addition to the Block 1B SLS vehicle will be the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), which completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) on…
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Biden backs Artemis moon program; watchdog says it’ll cost $86 billion
This infographic released Wednesday by the NASA Office of Inspector General includes cost figures for key elements of NASA’s Artemis program through fiscal year 2025, including the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, ground systems, the Gateway, and the Human Landing System. Credit: NASA OIG The Biden administration supports continuing NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts…
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Chinese mission returned nearly 4 pounds of lunar samples
Staff members handle the capsule containing lunar samples returned by the Chang’e 5 mission. Credit: Xinhua Chinese officials say they plan to share a portion of the nearly 4 pounds of lunar material returned by the Chang’e 5 mission with other countries, but an allocation for U.S. scientists will hinge on a change in U.S.…