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The United States is returning to the moon and this is happening sooner than expected. NASA returns to the moon in 2024 and may well have the support of Congress to do it.
Going on the moon is one thing, and since SpaceX has launched a car to the asteroid belt, this boots future on the moon after Apollo seems closer than ever. But what about landing on the moon? There is only one Lunar Lander who has taken people to the moon and brought them back, and it is unlikely that the drawing will be used again. Lockheed now has his own plan to land people on the moon, and maybe they can do it by 2024.
The mission
Currently, NASA's plan to send a man to the moon revolves around a totally different plan from Apollo. Instead of sending a command module and a lunar lander for a single trip to the moon's surface, future astronauts will arrive on the moon by first passing by a footbridge. This lunar gateway is a space station in a strange orbit that looks like an extremely eccentric polar orbit around the moon, with an orbital period of six to eight days. Mathematically, it is an orbit around a Lagrange point Earth-Moon and requires a little more fuel to access it than a purely lunar orbit. However, this orbit is extremely favorable to many things that are not lunar landings. First, the orbit allows for continuous communication with the Earth and can serve as a relay for operations off the moon. The entire surface of the moon is accessible from this orbit, unlike the Apollo missions that could only access at low latitudes of the moon. This last point is particularly important because it is planned to place boots on the south pole of the moon, which has proven reserves of water ice. But to get to the surface, you need a LG and many options are available.
The landers
In the last 10 or 15 years, many proposals have been made for the next generation of spacecraft to land on the moon. The first, and most important, comes from the Constellation program. The Altair lunar lander was a massive three-story vehicle capable of supporting four astronauts on the moon for a week. Unlike the Apollo Lunar Lander, there is an airlock that allows nearly 15 tons of equipment, housing modules or supplies to be placed anywhere on the moon's surface. The Altair is an exceptional vehicle, but after canceling the Constellation program in 2010, the LG's plans are dead on the vine.
In the years following the cancellation of the Constellation program, lunar lander projects have evolved. The astronauts will no longer repeat Apollo's mission profile by flying to the moon, with a lander on the way, entering an equatorial orbit around the moon, descending to the surface, ascending and then returning. on earth. . The plan is now for a lunar gateway, and this requires a different type of lander.
Lockheed Martin is currently working on an Orion-based lander concept that is perfect for traveling to the moon through a moon gate. The lunar part of this lander is what you expect – there is a decent module with a big engine and spider legs. In addition, there are residential neighborhoods that also have an engine to return to lunar orbit. Unlike other plans that involve what is effectively a three-storey lander (with the first floor used to bring the craft to the moon), the Lockheed lander will consist of two floors, based on common areas, and capable of bring a lot of mass. up to the lunar surface.
Is it really possible to build that?
The Lockheed Lander is a proposed lunar lander that will allow astronauts to place boot tracks on the moon in about five years. It's not a lot of time, especially in the aerospace field. Nevertheless, NASA thinks that this can happen by 2024. Is it really possible to build a lunar lander in such a short time? The story says yes.
The development of the original Lunar Lander began at the end of 1962, with the contract with NASA being awarded to Grumman. The design goal of this lunar lander was simply to bring two astronauts to the surface of the moon and return to lunar orbit; the implementation was very prone to interpretation because no one knew how to build a lunar lander. The design was taken in 1963, Grumman building the first test undercarriages. In March 1969, the lunar module was actually flying, with astronauts inside, with Apollo 9. The lunar module would gravitate around the moon two months later with Apollo 10 Two months later, Apollo 11 would make the first manned mission to the surface of the moon. The design, development, testing and launch of the first Lunar Lander lasted only six to seven years, and it starts from scratch.
It may be possible to build a Lunar Lander that will arrive on the Moon by 2024. We now have computers and we know you do not need gigantic windows. The engines already exist and the space has become commonplace. There are previous designs from which to inspire. However, Rob Chambers, director of the human space exploration strategy at Lockheed Martin, said, "We need to bend the metal next year." One day soon, and perhaps sooner than expected, there may be a Lunar Lander assembly line, ready to haul cargo and crew on the moon.
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