- cross-posted to:
- spaceflight@sh.itjust.works
- cross-posted to:
- spaceflight@sh.itjust.works
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not using a starship; it’s far too costly and impractical compared to a standard lightweight lander
Who can make a “standard lightweight lander” and crew rate it in 3 years?
probably blue origin. they were supposed to reopen the bidding process and let more companies bud again since spacex is behind. spacex had 4-5 years already and this requires an exceedingly complex system. Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin’s Orion already visited the moon as well and is on schedule to return in April. china will probably get there in 2030 as well.
I can’t see any of Boeing, NG, or LM spinning up a lander in the next few years. Blue could make it interesting by trying to accelerate their current plans, but all of their timelines to deliver so far have been so delayed that I’m not optimistic.
agreed - but I just don’t see a future for a super heavy launcher getting refilled in orbit, landing on an airless body, elevator required, soft touchdown, soft launch (long term base plans) i’m being a bit too pragmatic in saying all this though
I mean, an actual sustained Lunar surface presence will need a lot of mass delivered, but Starship is a crazy way to start the program. I would have loved a world where a working Dynetics lander could ferry crew to whatever surface habs, rovers, and consumables Blue Moon, Starship, Griffin, etc. can drop off.
Best plan is make Elon pilot a starship himself without any computer aids so it blows up and SpaceX can be nationalized, assets seized, and then reallocated to NASA.n
