NASA awarded SpaceX, a company of billionaire Elon Musk, a $2.9 billion contract to build a spacecraft that takes astronauts to the Moon, setting aside Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos, and defense contractor Dynetics Inc.
In turn, the entrepreneur published the new news on his networks and said, “We are honored to be part of the @NASAArtemis.”
The contract was played between two heavyweights, but NASA eventually opted to accept the offer of Tesla owner Musk before the offer made by Jeff Bezos, who had partnered with Lockheed Martin Corp, Northrop Grumman Corp and Draper.
Astrobotic announced that it chose SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to transport the Griffin lunar airstrip that will lead to NASA’s VIPER rover.
This robot will look for water on the surface and under the lunar floor. The mission begins at the end of 2023. The mission to Earth’s natural satellite will be the first of the U.S. space agency since the successful Apollo mission.
NASA stated at a press conference that chose the one that best met the needs of the Artemis program, its lunar strategy, federal government budget, and landing security. The HLS contract provides for a lunar launch and landing “as soon as 2024″.What will the mission be like? The agency’s Space Launch System rocket will launch a total of four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for its multi-day journey into lunar orbit. There, two of them will move to SpaceX’s Human Landing System (HLS) for the final stretch of their journey to the Moon’s surface.After approximately 7 days exploring the surface, they will board the air module for their short journey back into orbit, where they will return to Orion Station before returning to Earth.” This critical step puts humanity on the path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on farther missions in the solar system, including Mars,” said Kathy Lueders, head engineer of NASA’s manned missions.
