NASA Partners With Blue Origin to Develop Human Lander for Artemis Mission

NASA's Artemis program is making significant strides in its quest to return humans to the lunar surface by the late 2020s. The agency has recently partnered with Blue Origin, a private aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company founded by Jeff Bezos, to develop a human landing system for the Artemis V mission.

This partnership marks a major milestone in NASA's efforts to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon and pave the way for future astronaut missions to Mars. The agency has previously contracted SpaceX to demonstrate an initial human landing system for the Artemis III mission, but adding Blue Origin as a second partner will increase competition, reduce costs to taxpayers, and support a regular cadence of lunar landings.

The Blue Origin human landing system, known as Blue Moon, will be designed and developed to meet NASA's requirements for recurring astronaut expeditions to the lunar surface. The lander will be capable of docking with Gateway, a space station in lunar orbit where crew transfer will take place before descending to the lunar surface.

The Artemis V mission will see four astronauts launched on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft to lunar orbit. From there, they will transfer to the Blue Origin human landing system for a week-long trip to the Moon's South Pole region, where they will conduct science and exploration activities.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson praised the partnership, saying, 'We are in a golden age of human spaceflight, made possible by NASA's commercial and international partnerships.' The total award value of the firm-fixed price contract is $3.4 billion and includes one uncrewed demonstration mission to the lunar surface before a crewed demo on the Artemis V mission in 2029.

Through Artemis, NASA aims to explore more of the Moon than ever before, uncovering new scientific discoveries and preparing for future astronaut missions to Mars. The partnership with Blue Origin is a significant step towards achieving this goal, and it marks an exciting chapter in the agency's history of lunar exploration.

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