A friend whom I've know since we worked on the International Space Station at Major SE Defense Contractor forwarded an email to me that linked to a story on Aviation Week's Aerospace and Daily Defense Report. ISTRC that we shared an office in around 1992, but it was before it was called the INTERNATIONAL Space Station and was known as Space Station Freedom*. If it's not clear, Aviation Week is a magazine that was always respected at the contractor for both being right and among the first - if not the - first to cover important stories.
In our post about Blue Origin last Friday, we talked about the fact that New Glenn has only had one mission to successfully achieve orbit, and the next mission is planned to be "later this year," and to be the first test of their version of the Apollo Lunar Excursion Module they call their MK1. Aerospace Daily & Defense Report gives us a more complete history that's also interesting reading.
Blue Origin’s Mark 1 lunar lander began life as a structural test article for what the company hoped would be a follow-on contract to its original 2020 Human Landing System (HLS) technology development partnership with NASA.
But that was a contract that SpaceX won. It's the one that Blue sued NASA and the General Accounting office over. And lost the suit.
Engineers floated the idea of using the Mark 1 (MK1) as a mass simulator, if needed, for the first launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Instead, the company flew a prototype of its Blue Ring payload hosting and servicing spacecraft for the booster’s Jan. 16 debut.
Then Blue Origin began thinking about outfitting the MK1 with an avionics package, a solar power system, fuel cells, a reaction control system and a BE-7 engine and launching it into low Earth orbit (LEO) so the company could gain in-space operational experience.
At some point, John Couluris, Blue's vice president of lunar permanence, brought the idea to owner Jeff Bezos. Bezos looked it over and said, "Wow, that’s great. Can you land it on the Moon?" Suddenly the test got much harder and much more involved.
Blue Origin plans to attempt the landing this year. If successful, the MK1, which is 26 ft. tall and 10 ft. in diameter, would become the largest vehicle to touch down on the surface of the Moon, eclipsing the Apollo program’s Lunar Modules (LM) that landed crews six times in 1969-72. Fully fueled, the MK1 weighs 47,000 lb., compared with the 36,200-lb. mass of the extended Apollo LM.
The MK1 is designed to carry nearly 3.9 tons to any location on the surface of the Moon, Couluris said. Powered by a single liquid oxygen and liquid-hydrogen-fueled BE-7 engine, the MK1 will launch fully fueled onboard a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket. After a week-long journey to the Moon, the MK1 is designed to touch down within 33 ft. of its intended target, Couluris said.
As of last Thursday, when this was written, assembly of the 10,000 lb. thrust BE-7 engine that will power the MK1 is approaching completion. The next step will be that the MK1 will ship out from its Port Canaveral, Florida, manufacturing facility to the Johnson Space Center for thermal vacuum chamber testing. Which makes it sound like the first flight of the MK1 should take place this year, and possibly fairly soon, like around the end of the September.
Blue Origin has two MK1 vehicles in assembly and plans to fly both ahead of its uncrewed Blue Moon HLS demonstration for NASA. SpaceX is aiming for an uncrewed demonstration of its Starship-based HLS next year.
Rendering of the Mark 1 lander. Image credit: Blue Origin
*The first time they cut the budget on the Space Station Freedom, we shortened the name to Space Station Fred to reflect the savings from making the station smaller. When the station shrunk, the name Freedom no longer fit on a module. Tragically, nobody else adopted our nickname.
People make fun of 'Elon Time' but are they paying attention to 'Bezos Time'?
ReplyDeleteNobody has gone to the moon and nobody is going to the moon.
ReplyDeleteSez who?
Delete"To the Moon, Alice!"
What matters is the time axis of those statements. Nobody has gone to the moon in the last week; nobody is going to the moon this week. Unless the Chinese or someone that isn't talking to us is involved, so we can just add "that we know of" to both clauses. The next trip to circle the moon isn't for another year and change. That we know of.
Delete"Wow, that’s great. Can you land it on the Moon?" Suddenly the test got much harder and much more.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read that Dilbert's boss popped into my head.
This story seems centered on beating Space X. Maybe Elon should be a datum.
Ex: 'We figure to launch in 0.75 Elons.'
'Its been three Elons since we won our first contract.'
It is indeed tragic that Fred wasn't adopted.
Clinton was behind the name change. He wanted to shovel $$$ to the Russians and could not tolerate anything named Freedom.
ReplyDeleteHence the changes.
Appears it is the same old game of hunting for federal corporate-welfare money. Bezo already garnered billions in cheap postal package delivery rates, and who also ends up footing that gravy bucket I wonder. Gee, thats a hard question to answer. Some of these "wealthy" individuals sure seem almost as if hidden within their financial operations they are moving a lot of money thru laundering operations.
ReplyDeleteFor instance note how cheaply SpaceX has shown they run their launch and space operations. Cut out the difference between that and legacy orientated corps and that is basically how much federal monies end up in the gross financial control system. And where does all that siphoned wealth go? I think a large part is for running that global financial control system, furthermore, as this system and it's controllers never actually perform any wealth creation it must have a steady stream of free money to maintain its global dominance game, because it only makes sense that control if the worlds financial system provides those running it control of a lot of other things outside financial activities. Because after financial control, there is economic control, military control, (case in point Ukie/rus military theater, fighting over vast in-ground assets along the entire arc of Nuerussia, that entire northern arc is a has and oil reservoir, its a war in no way Ukrainian/US run but rather globalist Euro masters behind it, they have strip mined the entire US and Euro weapons stockpiles, nobody else could steal all that hardware and munitions plis subsidize the whole Ukie economy/gov operations).
Next is control of the whole medical system possible. Control of information, news, and internet.
You wrap that all up, you still need a source of free money to regularly inject into your power over all system. Thru gross theft as with various digital currencies, rapine and pillage of sovereign states, control over energy is also critical, (note how drastic efforts are to stop the Russians selling oil and gas, blow up various pipelines, God knows how many so far, literal ocean piracy of ships caring Russian energy and other cargo, its getting not just STUPID, its so blatantly obvious these psycho's are like out of control, there is non end in sight of it, starting to take on the aura of desperation, its either we get it all ir nobody gets anything group think, like truly, what is amiss with these human beings, they are poking a nuclear armed hornets nest with shorter and shorter sticks, on the daily now, they have the entire west's intelligence/ISR system handing Ukie proxies everything required to do their proxy war thing).
Us good folks do not enter the equation except for how many if us they can maintain a world size collective genocide rate, like the have a quota, or a ultimate population number they intend to establish. It seems to these, what, got no idea, what is an accurate name for them, except lunatics who love them selves to be self anointed rulers of earth.
It is amazing they have managed to keep it all going. For how much longer? Its also obvious it is of a kind of thing that when these actors grips upon the levers of power begin to slip a cascade failure ensues, rapidly once it gains momentum. It looks pretty rickety to me, lot of massive "check kiting" going on.
Looks like that one is prime to tip over. A known hazard of space travel.
ReplyDeleteBO's is kind of putting their horse before their kart. For some reason thats not readily apparent they are obsessed with the doing a moon lander. They raised all that fuss over SpaceX winning a luna lander tender, and they had not yet even produced promised engines never mind their booster was a decade over promised launch. Maybe that world of billionaires, some at least, a little cheese has fallen off their crackers. I'm spitballing here, but there is no common sense in this, and whats behind it all, like some kind of sound plan, or even a little bit of friendly co-operation, in any case, sure looks like a lot is kept from public view, after all its our money they receive.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping they do. More competence, more spaceflight is a win for all of us.
ReplyDeleteThey have one flight and they are going to land on the moon next? That's an awfully big step...
ReplyDeleteI think that putting the human capable spacecraft in orbit and leaving it there would be a great start to private space stations, even if crewed only part of the time.
Jonathan