NASA’ Artemis moon program is about to get some support from the recently recruited SpaceX, Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada Corp., Ceres Robotics and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. joining its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS).
These five allies will guide astronauts to the moon in 2024 by delivering robotic payloads to the lunar surface. Nine other companies were selected by CLPS in November 2018, by now reaching the number of 14 firms.
“American aerospace companies of all sizes are joining the Artemis program,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. “Expanding the group of companies who are eligible to bid on sending payloads to the moon’s surface drives innovation and reduces costs to NASA and American taxpayers. We anticipate opportunities to deliver a wide range of science and technology payloads to help make our vision for lunar exploration a reality and advance our goal of sending humans to explore Mars.”
Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos Blue Origin hopes to be selected with its Blue Moon lander , while SpaceX is bringing its eye-catching Starship spacecraft.
As far as the new spacesuits for astronauts for the upcoming missions, NASA unveiled The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit – xEMU- meant to offer more movement but also high protection from the extreme temperatures on the moon.
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