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CAP CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – The next lunar landing in America will be done by private companies – not by NASA.
NASA's Jim Bridenstine announced Thursday that nine US companies would compete for lunar surface experiments. The space agency will buy the service and let the private sector determine the details to achieve it, he said.
The goal is to obtain as soon as possible small scientific and technological experiments on the surface of the moon. The first flight could be next year; The year 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the first inhabited landing of the moon.
"We are going at great speed," said Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, who will lead the effort.
NASA officials said the research would help bring astronauts back to the moon faster and secure them once there. The first deliveries will likely include radiation monitors, as well as laser reflectors for gravity and other types of measurement, according to Zurbuchen.
Bridenstine said that it would be up to companies to organize their own rocket towers. NASA will be one of many customers using these lunar services.
The announcement took place just three days after NASA landed on Mars. NASA wants to see how it goes on the moon before engaging in commercial delivery services on Mars.
This new partnership is vaguely inspired by the success of commercial freight shipments by NASA to the International Space Station, as well as commercial crew efforts that have not yet been proven. SpaceX and Northrop Grumman, formerly Orbital ATK, have been transmitting space stations since 2012. SpaceX is expected to begin transporting astronauts to the orbiting laboratory next year; Boeing too.
Overall, these lunar payload commercial service contracts have a combined value of $ 2.6 billion over 10 years.
NASA wants to involve many companies to encourage competition and get to the moon quickly. Thus, astronauts can take advantage when an orbital position is operational near the moon.
Bridenstine expects humans to work intermittently on the moon, as well as robots and robots, from here a decade or so ago.
The nine companies, representing seven states, are:
Astrobiotic Technology Inc., Pittsburgh; Deep Space Systems, Littleton, Colorado; Draper, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Firefly Aerospace Inc., Cedar Park, Texas; Intuitive machines, Houston; Lockheed Martin, Littleton; Masten Space Systems Inc., Mojave, California; Moon Express, Cape Canaveral; and Orbit Beyond, Edison, New Jersey.
Lockheed Martin already has a lander on the moon in the model works of the Mars Mars InSight, which the company has built for NASA. Insight arrived in March on Monday.
The McCandless Lunar Lander owes its name to Bruce McCandless, a former astronaut and former employee of Lockheed Martin, who, in 1984, made the first free-flying space escape, without a lifeline to the shuttle into orbit, with the help of a jetpack built by the company. McCandless's photo floating in the darkness of space, with Blue Earth in the background, is one of NASA's most iconic images.
Mr Bridenstine said that if NASA wanted companies to succeed, the space agency is certain that some efforts will be in vain. Zurbuchen stressed that expectations should not exceed 50%.
"These are not expensive missions," Bridenstine told the press before the announcement in Washington. "It's like a venture-type venture where, in the end, the risk is high, but the return is also very high for a low investment."
"Our goal is to learn as much as possible and help this fledgling industry grow here in the United States," he added.
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The Health and Science Department of the Associated Press receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Scientific Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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