Blue Origin Targets 2025 For Cargo Lander's Inaugural Moon Trip, With Humans To Follow (geekwire.com) 19
In an update on CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday, Blue Origin said it was aiming to send an uncrewed lander to the surface of the moon in the next 12 to 16 months. A crewed version is expected to follow. GeekWire reports: "We're expecting to land on the moon between 12 and 16 months from today," [said John Couluris, senior vice president for lunar permanence at Blue Origin]. "I understand I'm saying that publicly, but that's what our team is aiming towards." Couluris was referring to a pathfinder version of Blue Origin's nearly three-story-tall Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander, which is taking shape at Blue Origin's production facility in Huntsville, Ala. The Pathfinder Mission would demonstrate the MK1's capabilities -- including its hydrogen-fueled BE-7 engine, its precision landing system and its ability to deliver up to 3 tons of payload anywhere on the moon.
Blue Origin envisions building multiple cargo landers, as well as a crewed version of the Blue Moon lander that could transport NASA astronauts to and from the lunar surface. The MK1 cargo lander is designed for a single launch and delivery, but the crewed lander would be reusable. "We'll launch them to lunar orbit, and we'll leave them there," Couluris explained. "And we'll refuel them in orbit, so that multiple astronauts can use the same vehicle back and forth."
The Pathfinder Mission would be funded by Blue Origin, but NASA is providing support for other Blue Moon missions. Blue Origin's $3.4 billion contract with NASA calls for the crewed lander to be available for the Artemis 5 moon mission by 2029, with an uncrewed test flight as part of the buildup. The in-space refueling operation would make use of a cislunar transporter, built by Lockheed Martin, that could travel between low Earth orbit and lunar orbit with supplies. "We are now building with NASA the infrastructure to ensure lunar permanency," Couluris said. NASA is providing funding for the Blue Moon landing system as an alternative to SpaceX's Starship system, which is under development at SpaceX's Starbase in South Texas. The crewed Starship lunar lander is scheduled to come into play for Artemis 3, a milestone landing mission that's currently scheduled for 2026. [...]
Blue Origin plans to send the MK1 lander to the moon on its reusable New Glenn rocket, which is also under development. A couple of weeks ago, a pathfinder version of that rocket was raised on a Florida launch pad for the first time, and it's currently going through a series of cryogenic tanking tests. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, who was brought over to the company from Amazon last year to accelerate work on New Glenn, said in a LinkedIn post that he's "looking forward to bringing this heavy-lift capacity to our customers later this year." One of the early launches is tasked with sending a pair of NASA probes to Mars.
Blue Origin envisions building multiple cargo landers, as well as a crewed version of the Blue Moon lander that could transport NASA astronauts to and from the lunar surface. The MK1 cargo lander is designed for a single launch and delivery, but the crewed lander would be reusable. "We'll launch them to lunar orbit, and we'll leave them there," Couluris explained. "And we'll refuel them in orbit, so that multiple astronauts can use the same vehicle back and forth."
The Pathfinder Mission would be funded by Blue Origin, but NASA is providing support for other Blue Moon missions. Blue Origin's $3.4 billion contract with NASA calls for the crewed lander to be available for the Artemis 5 moon mission by 2029, with an uncrewed test flight as part of the buildup. The in-space refueling operation would make use of a cislunar transporter, built by Lockheed Martin, that could travel between low Earth orbit and lunar orbit with supplies. "We are now building with NASA the infrastructure to ensure lunar permanency," Couluris said. NASA is providing funding for the Blue Moon landing system as an alternative to SpaceX's Starship system, which is under development at SpaceX's Starbase in South Texas. The crewed Starship lunar lander is scheduled to come into play for Artemis 3, a milestone landing mission that's currently scheduled for 2026. [...]
Blue Origin plans to send the MK1 lander to the moon on its reusable New Glenn rocket, which is also under development. A couple of weeks ago, a pathfinder version of that rocket was raised on a Florida launch pad for the first time, and it's currently going through a series of cryogenic tanking tests. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp, who was brought over to the company from Amazon last year to accelerate work on New Glenn, said in a LinkedIn post that he's "looking forward to bringing this heavy-lift capacity to our customers later this year." One of the early launches is tasked with sending a pair of NASA probes to Mars.
Did they secure enough lawyers for this mission? (Score:4, Funny)
Just asking for my friend Elon.
Re: Did they secure enough lawyers for this missio (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
What do you call a thousand lawyers being sent to the moon?
A good start!
Did I miss a headline? (Score:5, Insightful)
Have blue Origin managed to achieve orbit yet?
Seems like a big leap to go from sub-orbital to moon lander mission in 12 to 18 months, when it took NASA from 1958 to 1969 to do something similar, and Blue Origin has been around for 23 years but still hasn't achieved orbit yet.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Have blue Origin managed to achieve orbit yet?
Yes, and no.
No, BO still hasn't managed to do anything but stink the place up.
Yes, you missed a headline... BO is in negotiations to buy ULA. It has been reported on several times since December, but ARS has a decent write up here [arstechnica.com]. This would give BO proven ability to achieve orbit.
Blue Origin (Score:5, Interesting)
Heard from some friends in the aerospace industry that often good workers who join Blue Origin quit due to the slow pace of activity there. Yes that's anecdotal but I heard it from a few people. If you heard the same or different then tell.
Re: (Score:3)
Considering that humans haven't been to the moon since 1972, it doesn't seem like there's much of a rush.
Prime? (Score:2)
Can we get next-day delivery to the moon as Prime members?
Re: (Score:2)
Blue Moon isn't original enough for a moon lander for you? Maybe they should have called it, uh, "Hawk," or "Falcon."
They should have definitely used "alpha" and "v1" for version numbers instead of "pathfinder" and "mk1", because those are much more original, and we all know that version numbers are best when they're so original you have to look up what they mean.
message from the future (Score:3)
Mission milestones (Score:3, Interesting)
Developing Blue Origin on time - 0
Providing BE-4 engines to ULA within 4 years of promised date - 0
Launching people into real space (past the Karman line) -0
Having Jeff Bezos put on a stupid cowboy hat and getting in his big blue penis rocket - 1
Moon landing - um, how about negative a million.
If there's a website or insurance company (Lloyd's?) taking bets on this "moon landing in 2025"
I'll take a short position please.
Bezos means "kisses" in Spanish and "stupid joke" in English.
I took have a timetable (Score:2)
My plan is to visit the lunar surface next Tuesday. I believe I have roughly the same odds of meeting my stated goals as Blue Origin has of meeting theirs.
It would be nice if they gave us even a little credit for having some intelligence, and made their bullshit timeline at least somewhat plausible.
Re: (Score:2)