Nasa goes private for lunar landers

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is turning to private industry for the first lunar landers for astronauts in a halfcentury, with three competing, quite contrasting versions. Nasa Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced yesterday the three companies that will develop, build and fly lunar landers, with the goal of returning astronauts to the moon in 2024 and ultimately on to Mars. The companies are SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, led by Elon Musk; Blue Origin in Kent, Washington, founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos; and Dynetics, a Huntsville, Alabama, subsidiary of Leidos. Altogether, the contracts for the initial 10-month period total $967 million (NZ$1.5 billion). ‘‘This is the last piece that we need in order to get to the moon’’ by 2024, Bridenstine said. He noted it will be the first lunar lander since the last Apollo moon mission in 1972. Over the next 10 months, each company will refine its concept and Nasa will decide which lander to test first. Bridenstine said Nasa would go with the company that has the highest probability of success by 2024. Nasa will rely on its own Orion capsules and Space Launch System megarockets – still under development – to launch astronauts to the moon. Blue Origin got more than half the total amount – $579m – four times more than SpaceX’s $135m. Dynetics was in between, with $253m. SpaceX’s proposed Starship lander is so tall that astronauts will use an elevator to get to and from the lunar surface. Blue Origin’s version comes with a big ladder, according to artistic renderings. The Dynetics lander is so low to the ground that only a few steps are needed, like a front porch, a feature that Nasa gave high marks for safety and efficiency.