{"id":19010,"date":"2017-04-05T18:54:41","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T10:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origin-space-venture-slips-in-a-sneak-peek-at-design-of-blue-moon-lunar-lander\/"},"modified":"2017-04-05T18:54:41","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T10:54:41","slug":"blue-origin-space-venture-slips-in-a-sneak-peek-at-design-of-blue-moon-lunar-lander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origin-space-venture-slips-in-a-sneak-peek-at-design-of-blue-moon-lunar-lander\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin space venture slips in a sneak peek at design of Blue Moon lunar lander"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Blue
Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson shows off a concept for the company\u2019s Blue Moon lunar lander during a session at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. Other members of the panel include Jonathan Arenberg, chief systems engineer for NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope; former astronaut John Grunsfeld; and Mary Lynne Dittmar, executive director of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. \u2013 Blue Origin, the space venture backed by Amazon billionaire CEO Jeff Bezos, is providing a first look at the design for the Blue Moon lander it wants to use for deliveries to the lunar surface in the 2020s.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been more than a month since Blue Origin\u2019s plan for sending payloads to the moon for a permanent settlement came to light \u2013 but the company\u2019s president, Rob Meyerson, lifted a veil a bit higher by showing off an artist\u2019s conception of the lander here at the 33rd Space Symposium.<\/p>\n

As the four-legged lander design was displayed on screen, Meyerson told the crowd that the spacecraft could be launched on NASA\u2019s own heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket, or SLS, which is currently under development. It could also go on United Launch Alliance\u2019s existing Atlas 5 rocket, or on Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket \u2013 which is due to start flying by 2020.<\/p>\n

NASA hasn\u2019t yet signaled whether it will widen its plans for lunar exploration. But Meyerson said Blue Moon could ship cargo to the lunar surface to complement any plan that NASA develops for crewed Orion missions to lunar orbit, or for settlements on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that the lunar surface offers valuable resources, with valuable science return that can serve as a location to demonstrate key technologies and serve as an appropriate location for that long-term permanent settlement,\u201d Meyerson said. \u201cWe also believe the moon is in sequence for long-term exploration of the solar system, including Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meyerson said Bezos was even willing to put some of his own money into the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re willing to invest in its development as part of a private-public partnership with NASA,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more NASA flies SLS, the more they will need commercial logistics delivery services. New Glenn and Blue Moon complement SLS and Orion, enabling NASA\u2019s return to the moon, and this time to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BTEhohh6eYk<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has signaled that it\u2019s considering a refocusing of America\u2019s space program on lunar exploration as a step along the road to Mars. As a result, journeys to cislunar space \u2013 that is, the moon and its orbital vicinity \u2013 have attracted lots more interest.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin isn\u2019t the only commercial venture taking a closer look at the moon: Boeing, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance and Orbital ATK are among the space heavyweights proposing grand designs for NASA\u2019s cislunar operations.<\/p>\n

SpaceX and its billionaire founder, Elon Musk, are focused on Mars rather than the moon \u2013 but even Musk has said he\u2019s working on a plan to send a Dragon capsule on a round-the-moon mission, potentially within the next couple of years.<\/p>\n

During today\u2019s panel, Michael Wood, Boeing\u2019s chief engineer for the SLS program, said he welcomed Blue Origin\u2019s interest in lunar operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of our capabilities are complementary,\u201d Wood said. \u201cIt\u2019s an \u2018and\u2019 proposition, not an \u2018or.’\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson shows off a concept for the company\u2019s Blue Moon lunar lander during a session at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. Other members of the panel include Jonathan Arenberg, chief systems engineer for NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope; former astronaut John Grunsfeld; and Mary Lynne Dittmar, executive director of […]<\/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":[1508,509,4721,1046,625,510],"class_list":["post-19010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-moon","tag-blue-origin","tag-cislunar-space","tag-jeff-bezos","tag-moon","tag-new-glenn"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19010"}],"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=19010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}