Artemis Lunar Landers
The Artemis Program will use Orion to transport astronauts to lunar orbit. From there, astronauts will transfer either to the Gateway Lunar Outpost for later transfer to a landing system, or transfer directly from Orion to a landing vehicle.
The lunar landing vehicle will be commercially built. On 30 April 2020, NASA designated three companies to design and build these systems. The companies designated were Blue Origin (Kent, Washington), Dynetics (Huntsville, Alabama), and SpaceX (Hawthorne, California).
On 17 April 2021, NASA chose SpaceX as the sole winner for continued development. The selection of a single company prompted protest and lawsuits from both Dynetics and Blue Origin. Initially, the original decision was upheld, but on 24 August 2021, NASA voluntarily suspended its contract with SpaceX. Then on 19 October 2021, the US Senate budget proposal for NASA directed that a second Artemis lunar lander proposal also be considered. Blue Origin was selected as the second company.
Blue Origin
Blue Origin created Blue Moon to be a lunar landing systems for NASA. They are working in partnership with Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobiotics, and Honeybee Robotics to design and develop both a Cargo Landing System (Mark 1) and a Human Landing System (Mark 2).
These landers will be launched using Blue Origins own New Glenn. The Mark 1 will fly no earlier than 2026. The Mark 2 lander, capable of carrying up to four astronauts, will fly an unmanned demonstration no earlier than 2027, and will first support a manned landing with Artemis V in 2030.
Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander (Credit: Blue Origin)
Blue Moon Mark 2 human lander (Credit: Blue Origin)
Dynetics
Dynetics is a subsidiary of Leidos. The Dynetics lander (Dynetics Human Landing System or DHLS) has external propellant drop tanks which are discarded before landing. There are no separate descent and ascent modules. After landing, solar arrays are deployed. Transport to lunar orbit will be by ULA's Vulcan Centaur.
Dynetics was not one of the final two proposals.
Artist's conception of the DHLS on the lunar surface (Credit: Dynetics)
SpaceX
SpaceX is developing Starship, which a composite of the Starship itself and the Falcon Super Heavy launch vehicle. A modification of the Starship, stripped of its aerodynamic fins and heat shielding, is the SpaceX entry for the lunar lander. The Starship lander is single stage and fully reusable. There are no descent or ascent stages. It will be sent into lunar orbit by SpaceX's Falcon Super Heavy.
Artist's concept of Starship on the lunar surface (Credit: SpaceX)
Page last modified: 01 November 2024 17:51:23.
