SpaceX, Blue Origin Compete For 'Artemis III' Mission (apnews.com)
- Reference: 0181751436
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/04/18/2227222/spacex-blue-origin-compete-for-artemis-iii-mission
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/nasa-artemis-moon-astronauts-apollo-74008cb58e79ed525ae5e1fe08a04ad9
> In a [2]mission recently added to the docket for next year, Artemis III's yet-to-be -named astronauts will practice docking their Orion capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are racing to have their company's lander ready first. Musk's Starship and Bezos' Blue Moon are vying for the all-important Artemis IV moon landing in 2028. Two astronauts will aim for the south polar region, the preferred location for [NASA Administrator Jared] Isaacman's envisioned $20 billion to $30 billion moon base. Vast amounts of ice are almost certainly hidden in permanently shadowed craters there — ice that could provide water and rocket fuel.
>
> The docking mechanism for Artemis III's close-to-home trial run is already at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The latest model Starship is close to launching on a test flight from South Texas, and a scaled-down version of Blue Moon will attempt a lunar landing later this year.
[1] https://apnews.com/article/nasa-artemis-moon-astronauts-apollo-74008cb58e79ed525ae5e1fe08a04ad9
[2] https://apnews.com/article/nasa-moon-artemis-astronauts-83132fc4f86c3491984844fc309e25d2
Kind of surprising (Score:2)
It's kind of surprising how little press coverage Artemis has gotten. People flew around the moon.
Re: (Score:3)
Not sure what sources of "press coverage" you're following, but... it was all over the news I read and watch, at least.
Re: (Score:2)
I think it's just that if you're a certain vintage space travel around and across the Moon is such a big deal that it would have been around the clock coverage. So there was absolutely lots of coverage but it did blow everything out of the news. Of course I mean we literally went to war with Iran so and that caused massive global economic destabilization so...
But even so in the past it wouldn't have left the news cycle even with all that going on.
Re: (Score:2)
It was all over the news. Esp the bathroom issues. Just not more important than war and pressing issues.
Why can't they all just get along? (Score:1)
Here's an idea - give it to Boeing / ULA. You save money because you don't have to worry about the return leg of the trip.
Re: (Score:2)
Or give it to both of them. They could probably each send 10 missions for the price of one Boeing mission that will be too big to cancel and too bloated to meet deadlines and come in on budget.