{"id":17628,"date":"2020-11-06T23:49:33","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T15:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-venture-fleshes-out-plans-for-2023-cargo-delivery-to-the-moon\/"},"modified":"2020-11-06T23:49:33","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T15:49:33","slug":"jeff-bezos-blue-origin-venture-fleshes-out-plans-for-2023-cargo-delivery-to-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-venture-fleshes-out-plans-for-2023-cargo-delivery-to-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin venture fleshes out plans for 2023 cargo delivery to the moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_591284\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-591284\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-591284\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/blueorigin1-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Blue Origin landers\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/blueorigin1-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/blueorigin1-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/blueorigin1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/blueorigin1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/blueorigin1.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-591284\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows the human landing system that\u2019s being developed by Blue Origin and its industry partners in the foreground, and Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon cargo lander in the far background. (Blue Origin Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture is working on a landing system that could put astronauts on the moon by as early as 2024 \u2014 but it\u2019s also keeping its options open to deliver a ton of cargo to the lunar surface a year before that.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin\u2019s chief scientist, Steve Squyres, outlined the current state of plans for an Amazon-like cargo delivery to the moon today during a virtual symposium presented by the University of Washington\u2019s Space Policy and Research Center.<\/p>\n<p>The idea isn\u2019t exactly new: Blue Origin floated its Blue Moon cargo lander concept with the Trump administration in early 2017, even before President Donald Trump formally took office. And a Blue Origin executive mentioned the 2023 date for a cargo landing more than two years ago during a Seattle-area space conference.<\/p>\n<p>But Squyres\u2019 remarks served to confirm that the 2023 mission, which would provide an early test of the technology for the crewed landing system, is still part of Bezos\u2019 grand vision for creating a sustainable human presence on the moon. \u201cWe must go back to the moon, and this time to stay,\u201d Bezos told me in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no indication that NASA has put in its order for a cargo delivery yet, but Squyres said that if the go-ahead is eventually given, the uncrewed mission would target a spot not far away from the site selected for the 2024 crewed landing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNASA talks about Artemis base camp as being sort of our initial first foothold on the lunar surface,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd this is the chance to start doing this. This lander in 2023 can deliver up to 1,000 kilograms, an entire metric ton of cargo, onto the surface. Some of that cargo can be emergency supplies, tools, spare parts, a rover for the crew to drive around in if NASA has it ready in time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That could set the stage not only for the landing planned in 2024, but for follow-up missions as well. \u201cDownstream from this, we envision delivering larger crews to the lunar surface, delivering cargo to the lunar surface to build up that permanent presence,\u201d Squyres said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Meet 'Blue Moon' - Blue Origin's Lunar Lander Animated\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/80NOHvWb0vE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin is working with industry partners \u2014 including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper \u2014 to develop a system that could land astronauts on the moon and bring them back from the lunar surface to their way station in space. The uncrewed cargo lander wouldn\u2019t require the ascent module that Lockheed Martin is building for the crew-capable landing system.<\/p>\n<p>For what it\u2019s worth, SpaceX and Dynetics are also working on lunar landing systems, and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has talked about sending an uncrewed Starship cargo mission to the moon by 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Squyres, who joined Blue Origin last year, is well-acquainted with what\u2019s required for off-Earth robotic landings. During his time at Cornell University, he served as the principal investigator for NASA\u2019s Spirit and Opportunity rover missions to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>Today Squyres noted that NASA is working on several robotic probes to test the technologies required for Artemis moon expeditions. One such probe is the VIPER rover, which is due for launch to the moon\u2019s south polar region in late 2022 or 2023. VIPER will assess the prospects for extracting water ice that could be used as a resource for lunar operations.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"callout clearfix\"><strong>More from the SPARC symposium:<\/strong> Satellite warfare could lead to \u2018mutually assured destruction\u2019<\/h4>\n<p>Squyres said technology demonstrations targeting the extraction and use of lunar water are a \u201cvery, very active area of research right now\u201d for NASA and its partners. But he said more innovations will be needed to support a sustainable human presence on the moon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you talk about what you\u2019re going to build on the lunar surface, I think that the most immediate need is for landing and launch pads that will make flight operations safe at a base where there are people and infrastructure in place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Without such pads, rocket-powered touchdowns and takeoffs were likely to blast lunar rocks and soil all over the place, Squyres said.<\/p>\n<p>Lunar soil, also known as regolith, could be used as a building material on the moon, said Shirley Dyke, who heads Purdue University\u2019s Resilient Extra-Terrestrial Habitats Institute. But she said a huge knowledge gap would have to be filled first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have that much information about the regolith,\u201d Dyke said. \u201cWe know basic properties and basic contents, I should say, but what we do not know is the variability \u2014 the range of different possible materials as you go around different locations on the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dyke said lunar builders will have to find a substitute for at least one basic ingredient used in Earth-style construction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s this magical material here on Earth called Portland cement,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that does not exist on the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows the human landing system that\u2019s being developed by Blue Origin and its industry partners in the foreground, and Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon cargo lander in the far background. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture is working on a landing system that could put astronauts on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[304,1508,625,2723,4368],"class_list":["post-17628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-artemis","tag-blue-moon","tag-moon","tag-steve-squyres","tag-university-of-washington"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17628"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}