NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)

[DocM]

Tony Bella's at it again, creating graphics showing/comparing NASA's Orion spacecraft and SpaceX's Starship HLS (lunar lander).

 

 

[DocM]

NASA Artemis 3 Lunar landing site candidates.

 

SpaceX will select its own site for an earlier uncrewed test landing of Starship HLS*, which will also be within 6° latitude of the Lunar South Pole.

 

* Starship Human Landing System

 

Space News article

 

https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-potential-lunar-landing-sites-for-artemis-3/

 

Quote

 

NASA selects potential lunar landing sites for Artemis 3

 

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected 13 regions around the south pole of the moon that it is considering for the first crewed landing of the Artemis program later this decade.

 

The 13 locations released by NASA Aug. 19 reach include multiple sites that could host landings by SpaceX’s Starship vehicle serving as the lunar lander for the Artemis 3 mission that will carry the first NASA astronauts to the surface of the moon since Apollo 17 a half-century ago.

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The 13 locations, each about 15 by 15 kilometers, are located within six degrees of latitude of the south pole.

 

They are named:

 

• Faustini Rim A

• Peak Near Shackleton

• Connecting Ridge

• Connecting Ridge Extension

• de Gerlache Rim 1

• de Gerlache Rim 2

• de Gerlache-Kocher Massif

• Haworth

• Malapert Massif

| Leibnitz Beta Plateau

• Nobile Rim 1

• Nobile Rim 2

• Amundsen Rim

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Edited August 20, 2022 by DocM

[DocM]

Starship HLS elevator prototype

 

 

 

 

[DocM]

NASA Starship presentation for IAC 2022

 

PDF link in the first tweet.

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

Conclusions

Responsible for the transportation of humans between lunar orbit and the lunar surface, the Human Landing System program is at the center of Artemis, designed to yield groundbreaking science, develop, and utilize lunar surface resources and leverage what we learn at the Moon for future Mars missions. NASA is committed to establishing a sustained lunar presence, and through Option A and working closely with SpaceX, the HLS program will facilitate the rapid development and demonstration of the human landing system that will deliver the first woman, and in a later mission, the first person of color, to the Moon. The HLS capability demonstrated during the Artemis III mission will evolve into a safe and affordable long-term approach to accessing the lunar surface and to being one of many customers purchasing lunar transportation services. 

 

Through Artemis, NASA and its international and commercial partners will establish a cadence of trips to the Moon where American astronauts will conduct science investigations, technology demonstrations, and establish a long-term presence to prepare for humanity’s next giant leap – sending astronauts on a roundtrip to Mars.

 

The HLS program continues its hard work toward  achieving major agency milestones as NASA embarks on its mission to explore deep space and beyond this decade and into the future.

 

[DocM]

Starship HLS picks up another lunar landing - Artemis IV.

Also updates on the seond  lander competitors, with Lockheed-Martin offering a nuclear thermal Earth departure engine.

https://spacenews.com/lunar-landing-restored-for-artemis-4-mission/

Quote

Lunar landing restored for Artemis 4 mission

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — NASA has restored plans to include a lunar landing on its Artemis 4 mission to the moon later this decade, months after saying that the mission would instead be devoted to assembly of the lunar Gateway.

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Kirasich confirmed after the panel that NASA had decided to include a landing on Artemis 4 again. The mission would likely use the “Option B” version of SpaceX’s Starship lander, he said.

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[...] Option B would fund changes to the Starship lander to support more ambitious missions in the later “sustainable” phase of Artemis, and include a second demonstration mission.

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[DocM]

Crewed Starship HLS for Artemis IV confirmed.

This is an Option B contract which only SpaceX was allowed to bid on. Option B funds $1.15 billion for additional capabilities; docking at the Lunar Gateway, more crew & payload, etc. This puts total Starship HLS funding at over $4 billion.

That's 3 NASA lunar landings for Starship HLS - one uncrewed landing test in 2024 and two crewed landings; Artemis III (2025) and Artemis IV (2027)

A second crewed lunar lander will be competed under a different contract. 

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-spacex-second-contract-option-for-artemis-moon-landing-0

[DocM]

SLD: competition for a 2nd  human lander system (HLS) in the Artemis program. This in addition to the Starship HLS vehicle.

https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-and-dynetics-bidding-on-second-artemis-lunar-lander/

Quote

 

Blue Origin and Dynetics bidding on second Artemis lunar lander

WASHINGTON — Teams led by Blue Origin and Dynetics, runners-up in NASA’s first competition to develop a lander to transport astronauts to the lunar surface, have submitted proposals for a NASA competition to select a second lander.

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[...] The company NASA selects for SLD will fly one demonstration mission, likely no earlier than Artemis 5 in the late 2020s, and be eligible to compete for future missions.

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NASA expects to select the winner of the SLD competition in June 2023.

 

[DocM]

 

 

[DocM]

NASA selects team for second lunar lander,

Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics

 

 

[DocM]

Starship Flight 3 will include a propellant transfer test under the Artemis Human Lander System (HLS) contract.

Blue Origin has delivered a lunar lander mock-up.

 

[bguy_1986]

How is that?  Don't they need another Starship up there to transfer with?

[DocM]

On 05/12/2023 at 09:58, bguy_1986 said:

How is that?  Don't they need another Starship up there to transfer with?

 

They are using inertia to transfer propellant from one tank to another, firing thrusters and letting Gs do the work. They can test this  inside a single vehicle, moving propellant from a header tank to a main. 

[DocM]

UAE will make part of the Lunar Gateway

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-united-arab-emirates-announce-artemis-lunar-gateway-airlock/

NASA and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) have entered into an agreement for MBRSC to provide the Crew and Science Airlock module for the Gateway Space Station. As part of the agreement, NASA will fly a United Arab Emirates astronaut to Gateway on a future Artemis mission. Pictured is an artist’s concept of Gateway (left) and an artist’s concept of a government reference airlock (right).

[DocM]

Eric Berger reports on Ars Technica  NASA is quietly considering having Orion dock with Starship HLS in low Earth orbit for Artemis 3. Still having concerns about Orion's heat shield returning at lunar velocities. 10 years after its first flight and still no solution.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/nasa-may-alter-artemis-iii-to-have-starship-and-orion-dock-in-low-earth-orbit/\

In 2020 Robert Zubrin proposed they should scratch SLS/Orion and use Crew Dragon/Falcon Heavy. NASA said no.

With NASA now prepared the forego  Gateway and dock in LEO, Crew Dragon could take over the whole job. Saves almost $5 billion.

 

[DocM]

Astrolab video about their FLEX  cargo/human lunar rover, due to go uphill on the Starship. .

Top selection in NASA's Artemis lunar rover competition. $1.9B awarded.

Big SOB

 

 

[DocM]

NASA also wants HLS-class cargo landers for Artemis. 

NASA is specifying a cargo mass of 12 - 15 tonnes. I think SpaceX may exceed it.

NASA page...

Starship HLS cargo

 

Blue Origin HLS Cargo

[DocM]

Astrolab FLEX lunar/Mars  rover is the base of the crewed Lunar Terrain Vehicle, designed for Starship HLV.  Just got a $1.9 billion NASA development contract. 

 

Quote

Shortly after Matthews let me drive around the parking lot in various modes, I had three immediate thoughts. It was a hell of a lot of fun to drive. For someone like me with limited piloting skills, it was remarkably intuitive to handle. And holy crap, can you imagine being an astronaut driving across the Moon in this?

 

 And it has a BIG robotic arm

 

Edited April 26 by DocM

[DocM]

NASA selects Japan's Lunar Cruiser, an RV for the Moon, a collaboration between JAXA, Toyota and Mitsubishi. Definitely a Starship payload.

In return, their astronauts get to go to the Moon

The vehicle uses a regenerative fuel cell; 

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/07/22/business/corporate-business/toyota-moon-rover/

  Quote

Toyota said its technology will utilize solar energy and water to produce hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis during daylight hours, and the fuel cells to supply electricity during the night.

A lunar night lasts about 14 Earth days, so with help of the technology the lunar rover would be able to ride for many days at a stretch even when it is dark and extremely cold

 

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/04/japan-will-be-first-among-nasas-partners-to-have-an-astronaut-on-the-moon/
 

  Quote

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been working with Toyota and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for several years on the design of a pressurized rover. The vehicle would be roughly the size of two minibuses parked side by side, measuring nearly 20 feet (6 meters) long, 17 feet (5.2 meters) wide, and 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) tall. Its interior cabin could offer "comfortable accommodation" for two people, or four in an emergency, according to Toyota.

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The pressurized rover concept, which Toyota calls the "Lunar Cruiser," could explore the moon with astronauts inside for up to 30 days at a time. Crew members will be able to take off their spacesuits and work inside the vehicle in regular clothing. When astronauts aren't onboard, operators could remotely control the rover from a separate spacecraft or from Earth. Japanese officials aim to deliver it to the Moon in 2031, where it will operate for 10 years.

 

[DocM]

 More about the 2025 chaser/target Starship propellant transfer test 

 

Quote

The in-space propellant transfer test will be followed by an uncrewed demonstration mission of the HLS Starship, including fueling the vehicle and sending it to the moon for a landing. That mission will also feature an “ascent demo” not originally included in the plan, he said, to prove Starship can lift off the lunar surface.

 

[DocM]

Artemis III moon mission tests

Axiom Space, SpaceX and NASA did integrated tests of Axiom's lunar suit, SpaceX's Starship HLS Airlock and its Elevator, etc.

NASA blog post...