They should have thought of redundancy for the HLS. For one, you have a space fuel depot with cryogenic boil off that has to be refilled by multiple (at least 12?) starships. And then you have a slender long full rocket stage that has to land vertically on soft and unprepared lunar regolith. For some reason, my engineering instincts are revolting just at the thoughts of it.
NASA announced Thursday that it has awarded three contracts to begin initial development of lunar landing systems that will take astronauts down to the surface of the Moon in less than five years.
About a year ago, NASA gave initial study and preliminary development contracts for Moon landers to SpaceX, Dynetics, and a team of aerospace heavyweights led by Blue Origin. The cost of SpaceX’s bid was about half that of Dynetics, and one-fourth the amount received by Blue Origin. That frugality, at least in part, led NASA on Friday to choose SpaceX as the sole provider of landing services during the down-select phase.
NASA on Friday announced its selection of Blue Origin to build a second Human Landing System for its Artemis program to return to the Moon. The space company, founded by Jeff Bezos, will lead the development of a fully reusable lander that could take flight as soon as the end of this decade.
Friday’s announcement represents a significant moment for NASA for multiple reasons. Importantly, it adds a second provider of human landing services. Previously, NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX for its Starship vehicle to serve as a lunar lander. That vehicle will be used for NASA’s first two lunar landing missions, Artemis III and Artemis IV. So NASA gets the competition it covets, which has been shown to spur commercial development.
They want redundancy. What if Musk goes crazy in a new direction and decides to retire Dragon.
They should have thought of redundancy for the HLS. For one, you have a space fuel depot with cryogenic boil off that has to be refilled by multiple (at least 12?) starships. And then you have a slender long full rocket stage that has to land vertically on soft and unprepared lunar regolith. For some reason, my engineering instincts are revolting just at the thoughts of it.
NASA wanted redundancy, and will eventually get it.
2020: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/nasa-awards-lunar-lander-contracts-to-blue-origin-dynetics-and-starship/
2021: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/nasa-selects-spacex-as-its-sole-provider-for-a-lunar-lander/
SpaceX is the only affordable option, but BO makes a fuss: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/heres-why-blue-origin-thinks-it-is-justified-in-continuing-to-protest-nasa/
2023: https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/05/blue-origin-wins-pivotal-nasa-contract-to-develop-a-second-lunar-lander/