:strip_icc()/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a/internal_photos/bs/2021/G/t/Z97yD5RPavrQCB09DzMw/ap21106856967865.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1)
A Nasa selected the SpaceX in order to to take the first American astronauts to the Moon since 1972, announced on Friday (16) the space agency of the USA, which represents a great victory for the Elon Musk.
–
The $ 2.9 billion contract includes the spacecraft prototype Starship, which is being tested at SpaceX facilities in southern Texas.
–
“Today I am very excited, and we are all very excited, to announce that we have elected SpaceX to continue with the development of our integrated human landing system,” said Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager of this program at NASA.
–
–
Image released by NASA of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft. – Photo: AFP PHOTO / NASA / Aubrey Gemignani
– –
SpaceX thus defeats Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and defense contractor Dynetics and becomes the sole supplier of the system. It is a surprising milestone in NASA’s practices, which usually chooses several companies, in order to prevent itself in case of any failure.
–
Industry analysts said the decision underscores that the company, founded by Musk in 2002 with the aim of colonizing Mars, is NASA’s most trusted partner in the private sector.
–
Last year, SpaceX became apfirst private company to successfully send a crew to the International Space Station, reestablishing the North American capacity to accomplish the feat for the first time since the end of the space shuttle program.
–
For the Moon landing proposal, SpaceX introduced the reusable starship spacecraft, designed to transport large crews and cargo for space travel into deep space, and to make a vertical landing both on Earth and on other celestial bodies.
–
Prototypes of the spacecraft are being tested at the company’s facilities, although all four versions that have tried trial flights so far have exploded. See the VIDEO below
–
–
VIDEO: see images of the new SpaceX Starship rocket test flight that failed
– –
As part of the program Artemis to return humans to the moon, NASA wants to use its Space Launch System to transport four astronauts aboard a capsule of the Orion crew, which will then dock with a lunar space station called Gateway.
–
The Starship will be waiting to receive two crew members for the final leg of the trip to the surface of the Moon.
–
The idea is for the Gateway to be an intermediary station, but for the initial mission, Orion could link directly to the Starship, explained Watson-Morgan.
–
The astronauts would then spend a week on the moon before boarding the SpaceX spacecraft to return to lunar orbit and then boarding Orion back to Earth.
–
On the other hand, Musk’s company has plans to combine the Starship spacecraft with its own super-heavy rocket to make a combined spacecraft that would be 120 meters high and would be the most powerful launch vehicle ever implemented.
–
Humanity last set foot on the moon in 1972, during the Apollo program. NASA wants to return and establish a sustainable presence, with a lunar space station, to test new technologies that will pave the way for a manned mission to Mars.
–
In 2019, the then Vice President of the United States Mike Pence challenged NASA to put the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024, but that period is likely to be relaxed under the chairmanship of Joe Biden.
–
Another change from the current government is its stated goal of taking the first non-white person to the moon under the Artemis program.
– –
