Quote from: jongoff on 05/16/2023 04:44 pmQuote from: spacenuance on 05/16/2023 04:09 pmQuoteSoon, we'll announce the company selected to develop the landing system for the Artemis V Moon mission, which will take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back. Tune in Friday, May 19 at 10am ET (1400 UTC)So, who do we have our bets on? Has someone started a poll yet? Do we know how many companies submitted bids?The wording of the poll will be tricky. There is an implicit assumption that Artemis V will fly the Appendix P HLS, so is this poll about Appendix P, or is it about Artemis V?.My bet for Artemis V is for a Starship HLS evolved a little bit further from the Option B HLS that flies on Artemis IV. This guess is based solely on these unsupported personal assumptions: -- Starship HLS Option A will succeed on Artemis III -- Starship HLS Option B will succeed on Artemis IV -- An Appendix P HLS will not be available in time for Artemis V because the schedule is too tight.
Quote from: spacenuance on 05/16/2023 04:09 pmQuoteSoon, we'll announce the company selected to develop the landing system for the Artemis V Moon mission, which will take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back. Tune in Friday, May 19 at 10am ET (1400 UTC)So, who do we have our bets on? Has someone started a poll yet? Do we know how many companies submitted bids?
QuoteSoon, we'll announce the company selected to develop the landing system for the Artemis V Moon mission, which will take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back. Tune in Friday, May 19 at 10am ET (1400 UTC)So, who do we have our bets on?
Soon, we'll announce the company selected to develop the landing system for the Artemis V Moon mission, which will take astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface and back. Tune in Friday, May 19 at 10am ET (1400 UTC)
If Blue doesn't win NASA's legal department going need a significant budget increase.
Heads up! The time for NASA's announcement of the second HLS winner on Friday has changed to 10:30 am ET instead of 10:00 am ET.
I'm assuming this is a spoiler for NASA's big HLS selection announcement tomorrow morning?
Blue Origin was doing this before HLS Option A award, it doesn't mean anything. They need to be prepared to fill these positions IF they won, it's not a guarantee.
OFFICIAL: NASA has selected a team led by Blue Origin to build a second Human Landing System for the Moon. This will provide an alternative capability to SpaceX's Starship lunar lander, and start flying on the Artemis V mission in the early 2030s.
Blue Origin's Blue Moon Lander wins the second Human Landing System (HLS) contract to land on the Moon during Artemis V.
A new render of the Blue Moon Lander.
Update: NASA says the contract value is worth about $3.5 billion for the Blue Origin team
Blue Origin is contributing "well north" of $3.4B as its share of the project.
NEWS | MAY 19, 2023NASA Selects the Blue Origin Team for Astronaut Mission to the MoonKENT, WA -- NASA has awarded a NextSTEP-2 Appendix P Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) contract to Blue Origin. Blue Origin’s National Team partners include Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics. Under this contract, Blue Origin and its National Team partners will develop and fly both a lunar lander that can make a precision landing anywhere on the Moon’s surface and a cislunar transporter. These vehicles are powered by LOX-LH2. The high-specific impulse of LOX-LH2 provides a dramatic advantage for high-energy deep space missions. Nevertheless, lower performing but more easily storable propellants (such as hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide as used on the Apollo lunar landers) have been favored for these missions because of the problematic boil-off of LOX-LH2 during their long mission timelines. Through this contract, we will move the state of the art forward by making high-performance LOX-LH2 a storable propellant combination. Under SLD, we will develop and fly solar-powered 20-degree Kelvin cryocoolers and the other technologies required to prevent LOX-LH2 boil-off. Future missions beyond the Moon, and enabling capabilities such as high-performance nuclear thermal propulsion, will benefit greatly from storable LH2. Blue Origin’s architecture also prepares for that future day when lunar ice can be used to manufacture LOX and LH2 propellants on the Moon. Blue Origin and its partners are already at work and are excited to be on this journey with NASA.
May 19, 2023RELEASE 23-056NASA Selects Blue Origin as Second Artemis Lunar Lander ProviderTo develop a human landing system for the agency’s Artemis V mission to the Moon, NASA has selected Blue Origin of Kent, Washington. Through Artemis, NASA will explore more of the Moon than ever before, uncovering more scientific discoveries, and preparing for future astronaut missions to Mars.Blue Origin will design, develop, test, and verify its Blue Moon lander to meet NASA’s human landing system requirements for recurring astronaut expeditions to the lunar surface, including docking with Gateway, a space station where crew transfer in lunar orbit. In addition to design and development work, the contract includes one uncrewed demonstration mission to the lunar surface before a crewed demo on the Artemis V mission in 2029. The total award value of the firm-fixed price contract is $3.4 billion.“Today we are excited to announce Blue Origin will build a human landing system as NASA’s second provider to deliver Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We are in a golden age of human spaceflight, which is made possible by NASA’s commercial and international partnerships. Together, we are making an investment in the infrastructure that will pave the way to land the first astronauts on Mars.”For the Artemis V mission, NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket will launch four astronauts to lunar orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft. Once Orion docks with Gateway, two astronauts will transfer to Blue Origin’s human landing system for about a weeklong trip to the Moon’s South Pole region where they will conduct science and exploration activities. Artemis V is at the intersection of demonstrating NASA’s initial lunar exploration capabilities and establishing the foundational systems to support recurring complex missions in lunar orbit and on the surface as part of the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.Adding another human landing system partner to NASA’s Artemis program will increase competition, reduce costs to taxpayers, support a regular cadence of lunar landings, further invest in the lunar economy, and help NASA achieve its goals on and around the Moon in preparation for future astronaut missions to Mars. The agency previously contracted SpaceX to demonstrate an initial human landing system for the Artemis III mission. Under that contract, the agency also directed SpaceX to evolve its design to meet the agency’s requirements for sustainable exploration and to demonstrate the lander on Artemis IV. As a result of the contract with Blue Origin to demonstrate on Artemis V a lander that meets these same sustainable lander requirements, including capabilities for increased crew size, longer mission duration, and delivery of more mass to the Moon, multiple providers will be available to compete for future opportunities to fulfill NASA’s lunar surface access needs for Artemis missions.By supporting industry’s development of innovative human landing system concepts and designs, NASA will help increase access to space for the benefit of all. “Having two distinct lunar lander designs, with different approaches to how they meet NASA's mission needs, provides more robustness and ensures a regular cadence of Moon landings,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager, Human Landing System Program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “This competitive approach drives innovation, brings down costs, and invests in commercial capabilities to grow the business opportunities that can serve other customers and foster a lunar economy.”NASA issued the solicitation, known as Appendix P, of its second Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships Broad Agency Announcement (Next-STEP2 BAA), in September 2022 as part of the ongoing development of advanced space exploration technologies, capabilities, and concepts.Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts – including the first woman and first person of color – to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for crewed missions to Mars. Together, the SLS rocket, Orion, Gateway, advanced spacesuits, and human landing systems are NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.For more information about the human landing system, visit:https://go.nasa.gov/45fK6qY-end-
Some number and factoids from the announcement:- NASA contract value is 'a little bit over $3.4B'.- Blue Origin contributing 'more than 50%'. Their contribution is "well north of $3.4B".- LOX/LH2 fueled lander- Lander is single-stage and reusable- Lander stays in NRHO; does not go back to LEO for refuelling. Instead...- A transfer vehicle shuttles between LEO and NRHO. It is refuelled in LEO (so, there must be a tanker or depot in LEO) and then moves to NRHO where it refuels the lander.- Everything required launches on New Glenn (lander, refuelling transfer vehicle, tanker/depot)- Lander fits inside 7 meter NG fairing- Lander heigth = 16 meters.- Lander empty mass = 16 metric tons.- Lander wett mass = 45 metric tons.- Layout bottom to top: BE-7 engines, crew cabin, LOX tank with solar panel attached, LH2 tank with radiators attached, top ring with comms antennas and RCS.- Crew cabin also holds docking port on one side and crew surface access hatch on other side. - Crew cabin capable of holding 4 suited crew members.- Initial duration of surface stay is one week.- Lander can deliver 20 metric tons of cargo to lunar surface in reusable uncrewed mode.- Lander can deliver 30 metric tons of cargo to lunar surface in one-way (=disposable) uncrewed mode.- Multiple test missions will be flown to test the new technology (particularly solar powered 20 Kelvin cryo coolers).- At least one uncrewed test landing before first crewed landing attempt. The latter is tentatively scheduled for Artemis 5 in 2029.
- A transfer vehicle shuttles between LEO and NRHO. It is refuelled in LEO (so, there must be a tanker or depot in LEO) and then moves to NRHO where it refuels the lander.- Everything required launches on New Glenn (lander, refuelling transfer vehicle, tanker/depot)
