NASA requests proposals for 2nd moon lander for Artemis astronauts

Sep 4, 2022
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This is interesting. Aside from the SpaceX proposal, the first round of landers were fairly lackluster; I definitely got the feeling that Lockheed was just making a token effort. Now that SpaceX has a winning lander design, and all of the competitors have had some time to examine & re-think, maybe we will see more serious work. What I want to see is designs that try to do better than SpaceX -- less expensive, or more capable, or using different engine technology, or anything truly innovative.
 
The thing that doesn't make sense about the SpaceX winning bid is that, if SpaceX is able to get one of its Starships to lunar orbit, land it on the moon, and then return it to lunar orbit, why not just put the NASA astronauts on the Starship in the first place, and not bother with the SLS/Artemis at all?

I think that the NASA request for a second, independent contractor for a lunar lander is really a "plan B" for SpaceX not succeeding as soon as NASA wants to land on the moon, which seem like 2025, these days.

Frankly, 3 years to build a lander from scratch seems at least as risky as betting on Starship.

It seems ridiculous that, even with all the delays and schedule slip on the SLS, that NASA has not already designed and tested the lander part of the mission equipment with only 3 years to go.
 
Sep 4, 2022
13
5
15
Visit site
The thing that doesn't make sense about the SpaceX winning bid is that, if SpaceX is able to get one of its Starships to lunar orbit, land it on the moon, and then return it to lunar orbit, why not just put the NASA astronauts on the Starship in the first place, and not bother with the SLS/Artemis at all?
Unfortunately, this makes perfect sense. SLS was never seriously intended to do much of anything -- it was just a way to waste tax dollars in specific congressional districts. By that metric, it has been a spectacular success. Until Senator Richard Shelby leaves office, and maybe even after that, this monstrosity will be impossible to kill.

I think that the NASA request for a second, independent contractor for a lunar lander is really a "plan B" for SpaceX not succeeding as soon as NASA wants to land on the moon, which seem like 2025, these days.

Frankly, 3 years to build a lander from scratch seems at least as risky as betting on Starship.

It seems ridiculous that, even with all the delays and schedule slip on the SLS, that NASA has not already designed and tested the lander part of the mission equipment with only 3 years to go.
Maybe it is not too surprising, given the obscene amount of the NASA budget which has been consumed by SLS / Orion. One of the major complaints about the system has always been that the extreme expense of developing it meant there was no money left to design any payloads which would need to ride on it.
 

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