The Briefing Room

General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Space => Topic started by: Elderberry on April 26, 2021, 11:17:47 pm

Title: Blue Origin Challenges NASA Over SpaceX Moon Lander Deal
Post by: Elderberry on April 26, 2021, 11:17:47 pm
New York Times by Kenneth Chang 4/26/2021

The space agency picked Elon Musk’s company over two other bidders to take its astronauts back to the lunar surface.

Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, two of the richest men in the world, both with dreams of leading humanity out into the solar system, are fighting over the moon.

On Monday, Blue Origin, the rocket company founded by Mr. Bezos, who will step down as Amazon’s chief executive later this year, filed a 50-page protest with the federal Government Accountability Office, challenging a $2.9 billion contract to SpaceX from NASA to build a lander for American astronauts to return to the moon.

NASA announced this month that Mr. Musk’s SpaceX was the sole winner in the competition, beating Blue Origin and a third company, Dynetics of Huntsville, Ala., a defense contractor.

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/science/spacex-moon-blue-origin.html (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/science/spacex-moon-blue-origin.html)
Title: Re: Blue Origin Challenges NASA Over SpaceX Moon Lander Deal
Post by: Sled Dog on April 30, 2021, 09:24:51 am
So what does the 2.9 gigabucks buy, anyway?   Certainly not a man-rated flight vehicle. 

The James Webb Space Telescope is coming in at over 9 gigabucks, and it's just going to the L2 position to look around.