The memo urges the space agency to back an Amazon-like shipment service for the moon that would deliver gear for experiments, cargo and habitats by mid-2020, helping to enable “future human settlement” of the moon. (Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, owns The Washington Post.)“It is time for America to return to the Moon — this time to stay,” Bezos said in response to emailed questions from The Post. “A permanently inhabited lunar settlement is a difficult and worthy objective. I sense a lot of people are excited about this.”The Post obtained a copy of the white paper, marked “proprietary and confidential,” and the company then confirmed its authenticity and agreed to answer questions about it.
Essentially Bezos is offering to do for the Moon what Musk is offering to do for Mars - be the transportation company.
Make's me think of Jan Woerner's "Moon village".Moon Village: A vision for global cooperation and Space 4.0
I wish we had a 3rd supplier of near future super heavy lift capabilities.This would make a strong base for any large commercial or state sponsored projects.Only 2 suppliers adds a lot of risk, as one can go bust or change their strategy, leaving projects grounded.Of course you can always argue that there is no large demand for that capability, but I think this is one of those cases where you first have to establish the capability and only after the client's projects show up.
Quote from: Coastal Ron on 03/03/2017 02:45 amEssentially Bezos is offering to do for the Moon what Musk is offering to do for Mars - be the transportation company.Nope, couldn't be more wrong.
"Essentially what we're saying is we're establishing a cargo route to Mars," Musk said.
“It is time for America to return to the Moon — this time to stay,” Bezos said in response to emailed questions from The Post. “A permanently inhabited lunar settlement is a difficult and worthy objective.
Quote from: Coastal Ron on 03/03/2017 02:45 amEssentially Bezos is offering to do for the Moon what Musk is offering to do for Mars - be the transportation company.Nope, couldn't be more wrong.He's solely focussed on cargo to the moon, enabled by BO hydrolox props and automated precision landing.Musk is focussed on people+cargo precision lander in a context allowing development on Mars/other.
You're presuming much more than he says. There's specific reasons for what he says and doesn't say. Listen, don't project.
Very important, because you all want to fantasize than Musk/Bezos are same/like. Not!
So don't be all "space cadet happy" over this. There's a lot more "will" here that might need to happen. All you've got are a few "enablers".
And don't count on the current hoopla for much - its just a distraction at the moment. When the cost of doing something appears, suddenly things might shift. RIFs are permanent, and deconstruction of institutions too.Which does not mean that you don't value the moment, one does strike while the iron's hot.
But listen very very carefully to what they say. And timelines.