"NASA is still hoping to land the first Artemis astronauts on the surface of the Moon by the end of 2028, an extremely ambitious plan that will require an extraordinary number of moving parts to perfectly fall into place, and at the right time."
"Blue Origin's early Blue Moon prototype, dubbed Mark 1, had recently completed evaluations inside the agency's massive Thermal Vacuum Chamber A at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The tests allow engineers to see how it will withstand the vacuum of space and extreme temperature swings during flight."
"Mark 1, the largest lunar lander ever built, won't actually be part of NASA's Artemis 3 mission next year - or ever deliver astronauts to the lunar surface. Instead, the Jeff Bezos-led company is hoping to use it to deliver cargo to the Moon's South Pole before the end of this year as part of a precursor test launch."
"Still, nobody knows when the first astronauts will step foot inside the first Mark 2 lander once it's built. For one, Blue Origin's New Glenn, the rocket designed to carry Blue Moon into orbit, experienced a major setback last month, failing to release a small communications satellite into a high enough orbit, forcing it to be destroyed."
NASA plans to land Artemis astronauts on the Moon by the end of 2028, testing SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon landers in late 2027. Blue Origin's Mark 1 prototype has completed evaluations in a thermal vacuum chamber, preparing for an uncrewed test flight. Although Mark 1 won't be part of Artemis 3, it will deliver cargo to the Moon's South Pole. The design of Mark 2 will follow, intended for crewed missions, but uncertainties remain regarding timelines and rocket readiness.
Read at Futurism
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