NASA Wants Ideas for a New Lunar Lander

NASA is planning to make a lot of trips to the moon with multiple Moon landers. U.S. companies are being reached out to by the space agency.

As it seeks a second human landing system for the Artemis era, NASA has put out the call for moon landers. The space agency expressed its desire for a second option earlier this year, but the recently announced call for proposals includes industry feedback on a draft solicitation. The second lunar lander would be used on subsequent Artemis missions to the surface, whereas the first lunar lander would only be used for the Artemis 3 mission.

Only U.S. companies are eligible, and they need to deliver astronauts to the moon. An uncrewed landing on the Moon followed by a crewed landing is what the chosen company will have to do. As a result of the Artemis program, the winning company will be able to compete for future contracts.

In order to maintain a sustainable presence of humans on the Moon, NASA wants astronauts to go back and forth to the lunar surface for longer periods of time. The Artemis 1 mission will be the first in which an uncrewed capsule will travel around the moon and back. The first humans on the moon since the Apollo era would be seen in Artemis 3.

NASA awarded a contract to develop the first lunar landers in April of 2021. Blue Origin and Dynetics were the other two companies that signed the deal. The Artemis 3 lunar landing will be carried out by the upcoming Starship, a fully-reusable, super- heavy-lift launch vehicle.

The MagSafe charging case will allow for up to 6 hours of listening time with ANC enabled and 30 hours of total listening time.

After awarding the human landing system contract to SpaceX, NASA said it was looking for a second lunar lander. In addition to delivering astronauts to the surface, the space agency wants a lander that can dock with the planned lunar gateway. Storage space for Moon-bound cargo must be added. Bill Nelson said at the time that he promised competition. Competition leads to better results.

NASA wants the company to change its Artemis 3 design to meet an extended set of requirements for sustaining missions at the Moon and conduct another crewed demonstration landing. Future contracts will allow the company to compete for them as well.

The Human Landing System Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center said that work done under the solicitation will help build the foundation for long-term deep space exploration. Partnering with American companies allows us to use NASA's knowledge and expertise to encourage technological innovations for a sustained presence at the moon.

The proposals for the moon landers are due in November. Blue Origin is expected to submit a proposal, but at a previously stated price of $5.99 billion, NASA may not approve. If Dynetics resubmits its proposal, the space agency could do the same thing. There is no reason to think that NASA won't do the same thing with the second landers.

There is a new target date for the launch of the megarocket.