Have you ever thought of living your life on the moon? If you think or dream about such things than your dream might soon turn into reality. NASA is all set to send Lunar landers the Moon. And for that, the organization has selected three private companies who would take different scientific instruments to the moon so that research and other things could be done on the moon.
The heart of the matter
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has selected three companies. Namely Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Orbit Beyond as the first three private companies to deliver science and technology payloads under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) as part of its Artemis program.
NASA will give different missions to different companies all landing in the moon. Each of the selected companies has provided their models. They say they will send their landers to the moon in 2020 and 2021. The endeavor will help inform the United States’ push to return humans to the moon by 2024, also known as Artemis.
The process of selection.
The companies are selected from a shortlist of nine companies that were picked back in November. To compete for up to $2.6 billion in contracts to shuttle payloads to the moon. All the previous activities on the moon have been funded by superpowers. And thus they wanted private companies to land on the moon and earn money.
The contracts.
All three companies have been awarded different contracts. Orbit Beyond has been awarded the largest contract of $97 million to carry four NASA payloads to the moon. Its plan is to launch by September 2020 to Mare Imbrium. It is a huge plain of solidified lava in a crater.
Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic got the second-largest contract. The company was awarded an amount of $79.5 million. It will carry 14 NASA instruments as well as 14 payloads from other partners. Which includes private companies and eight other nations. It intends to launch by July 2021 and land in another large crater called Lacus Mortis.
Intuitive Machines, out of Houston have been provided with a contract of $77 million. It will launch by July 2021 to bring five payloads to Oceanus Procellarum, the biggest of the dark plains, or maria, on the moon. It will also bring a small rover developed by another commercial partner.
Bonus fact.
This missions to the moon will not only enhance the commercial activity but will also help us to get a lot of information regarding life on the moon. Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond will both be launching aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, while Astrobotic has not yet announced a launch provider.
“These lenders are just the beginning of exciting commercial partnerships that will bring us closer to solving the many scientific mysteries of our Moon, our solar system, and beyond,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in a statement. “What we learn will not only change our view of the universe but also prepare our human missions to the Moon and eventually Mars.”
Conclusion.
The lunar landers will to a great extent help humankind to know more and more about the moon and life on the moon. It is just a matter of time after which reaching moon and mars would not feel so unreal. Who knows after just a few years we could be multi-planetary beings. Do you think humans could one day become multi-planetary?
