After a heated gameNASA chose a SpaceX rocket to land its astronauts on the moon for the first time in 45 years. A series of concept images can reveal why the Elon Musk outfit won the high-profile contract.
On Friday, April 16, the agency announced that it had awarded Elon Musk’s company a $ 2.89 billion contract to continue development of the first commercial lunar lander. The company’s proposal, outlined last year, uses the fully reusable Starship rocket currently under development at SpaceX’s facility in Texas. The ship will be used to transport two astronauts to the lunar surface.
“NASA rules!” Musk wrote in response to the news about his Twitter page“We are honored to be part of the NASA Artemis team.”
Want to dive deeper into where Starship is headed now? Subscribe to MUSK READS + for exclusive interviews and analysis on all things Musk.
NASA chooses Starship
The news is a big endorsement of SpaceX’s ambitious plans for Starship. The rocket’s predecessor, known as BFR, was first outlined by Musk at a conference in September 2017. Starship is designed as a fully reusable rocket capable of sending more than 150 tons or 100 people into space at once, with the capability to replace all existing SpaceX rockets.
NASA has chosen the rocket to work as a lunar lander on its missions. The agency will launch four astronauts using an Orion spacecraft launched into space by the Space Launch System rocket. The capsule will travel for several days before reaching lunar orbit.
Once it reaches the moon’s orbit, the capsule encounters SpaceX’s spaceship to allow two astronauts to switch between the ships. The happy couple will spend about a week on the surface of the moon before boarding the lander and returning to the Orion spacecraft.
“By partnering with industry while leveraging NASA’s proven technical expertise and capabilities, we will return US astronauts to the lunar surface again, this time to explore new areas for extended periods of time,” said Lisa Watson- Morgan, program manager for HLS at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement.
SpaceX ‘Manned Moon Mission
The decision came a year after NASA first selected three companies to develop human landers to send astronauts to the moon. In addition to SpaceX, NASA also chose the company Blue Origin from Jeff Bezos and Dynetics from Alabama.
SpaceX’s proposal at the time described a lunar variant of the spaceship, complete with NASA logos on the cone. The proposal emphasized a “spacious cabin” for the astronauts and two airlocks for exploring the moon.
In June 2020, Musk also explained that moonbound ships would use new legs with a wider stance to land on the rocky surface. It would also drop extras like heat shields and flaps, less important for missions to the moon, to increase the amount of cargo the ship can carry to the surface.
The newer concept images contrast sharply with an earlier image shown in November 2019, which shows a more complex spaceship with the aforementioned flaps:
A version of the spaceship with the NASA logo was spotted at the Texas facility in October 2020:
How does the SpaceX Moon mission lunar module work?
The setup would use multiple spaceships to complete the mission. A spaceship designed to store propellant stays in low Earth orbit, providing additional fuel for starships to complete their journey. The ship that will transport humans to the lunar surface will be launched from Earth, refuel using the starship storing propellant and continue its journey to orbit the moon.
Starship cislunar and interplanetary missions will use the Super Heavy booster to provide the necessary power to leave Earth’s gravity.
Blue Origin’s rival three-stage Integrated Lander Vehicle concept also included work from other industry giants. Lockheed Martin would build the vehicle’s crew cabin, Northrop Grumman would provide the necessary tools to transport astronauts while docking, and Draper would build navigation and avionics systems.
NASA had the option to choose two designs for the 2024 mission, but instead decided to fully commit to SpaceX’s proposal.
While the spaceship will be used to transport people between the surface of the Moon and the Moon’s orbit, SpaceX has much bigger goals in mind. It plans to further develop the ship to send the first humans to Mars. Using liquid oxygen and methane as fuel means that astronauts can visit Mars, refuel using the planet’s resources, and return home or move on.
SpaceX has also produced concept art of a spaceship arriving at a possible future lunar base:
With Mars on the horizon, the moon may be just the beginning.
Starship’s Journey:
SUBSCRIBE TO MUSK READS +, A PREMIUM NEWSLETTER CONTAINING THE WORLDS OF ELON MUSK, SPACEX, TESLA AND EVERYTHING BETWEEN THESE.