Blue Origin unites aerospace team to get America back to the moon
They hope to get to the lunar surface by 2024.
Some big names are working with Blue Origin for its lunar mission.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, and he wants America to get back to the moon. To help make that happen, his company Blue Origin will work with some of the biggest names in aerospace.
Blue Origin has partnered with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper to develop a Human Landing System for NASA's Artemis program, according to a release Tuesday. The goal is to land on the surface of the moon in 2024. Humans haven't been to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, the sixth such lunar landing mission in a series that began with Apollo 11 in 1969.
Each of the four companies will have different responsibilities to accomplish that goal. Blue Origin, the lead for the project, is handling the mission engineer and the lunar lander, among other tasks. Lockheed Martin will develop the reusable Ascent Element vehicle and will handle flight operations and training. Northrop Grumman is in charge of the Transfer Element, the vehicle that will take a crew down to the lunar surface. Draper will handle descent guidance and flight avionics.
National priority…National team. Time to go back to the Moon – to stay. @LockheedMartin @northropgrumman @DraperLab https://t.co/S8UF3u2OZV pic.twitter.com/swfqF45vRn
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 22, 2019
Blue Origin unveiled its lunar lander, called Blue Moon, back in May. It also fired its moon landing engine for the first time that month.
Aside from attempting to go back to the moon, Blue Origin is also in the midst of developing its space tourism business. It plans to start sending passengers into orbit sometime in 2020.
