›

Elon Musk is to bring the first woman to the moon

Edit

Your Link is Almost Ready Scroll Down After Loading...

 


The goal still comes from the elected Trump administration: A US astronaut should set foot on the moon again by 2024 at the latest. Unlike in the 1960s, NASA will not develop the spacecraft required for this itself. Instead, the authority draws on the expertise of private space companies. For example, a $ 2.89 billion contract for the construction of a lunar module and a manned flight to the moon was put out to tender. The defense company Dynetics and a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin then applied. However, the contract was awarded to SpaceX, a company managed by multi-entrepreneur Elon Musk. The company is now subject to an ambitious schedule. A first unmanned test flight is scheduled to orbit the moon this year.


SpaceX made the cheapest offer by far


The contract for Musk's company is quite a surprise. NASA is thus becoming dependent on only one company. US politicians, on the other hand, would prefer such orders to go to two companies to create a competitive situation. However, this is only possible if sufficient financial resources are available. But that is exactly what it seems to be lacking. NASA had calculated that it would cost 3.3 billion dollars to send astronauts to the moon again. However, the US Congress has only approved $ 850 million so far. Against this background, it is quite understandable that the space agency has opted for the cheapest offer by far - and that came from SpaceX. This is possible


Elon Musk even wants to fly the spaceship to Mars


The first test flights have already been carried out with the new rocket. There were repeated unplanned explosions. However, this is not entirely uncommon at this early stage of development. Even more important for NASA: SpaceX is likely to continue to invest significant amounts of its funds in the project in the future. Because Elon Musk is pursuing a much more far-reaching goal: He wants to transport people to Mars. The NASA order therefore only represents an additional source of income. It does not have to finance the entire development work. In the past, SpaceX was notorious for not sticking to self-proclaimed schedules. In the meantime, however, the company has also carried out transport flights to the international space station ISS.