Because Elon Musk offers help to NASA on the suits for the new moon landing
NASA will not be able to respect the date of 2024 for the new landing on the Moon, also due to the delays in the development of space suits. Elon Musk offered his help – here's why
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of the aerospace company SpaceX , has offered to help NASA make the next-generation spacesuits for American astronauts who will return to the moon in the coming years.
LOST LANDING
The date initially set by NASA for the moon landing, 2024, has been judged not feasible by a recent report from the agency's general inspectorate. The reasons also include the delays in the production of the suits (officially called "Extravehicular Mobility Units"), which will not be ready for flight before April 2025, although NASA has invested over a billion dollars in them: 420 million are already been spent, and another 625 are expected.
THE TWEET OF ELON MUSK
On Twitter, where he is very active, Musk responded to the post by reporter Michael Sheetz – who is in charge of space for CNBC and who was reporting the words of the inspector general of NASA – writing that SpaceX could take care of the development of the suits "if necessary".
SpaceX could do it if need be
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2021
THE SPACEX SUITS
SpaceX has developed and produced suits for astronauts brought into orbit by its Crew Dragon capsule, which last April made the first voyage with humans on board, from US soil.
The suits are designed to protect astronauts in the event of a fire outbreak in the capsule or depressurization of the cabin. Space suits – such as those used by NASA for the lunar mission – are however more complex, because they must allow astronauts to survive outside the vehicle, in space, in a hostile environment.
THE RESPONSE OF NASA
Monica Witt, a spokesperson for NASA, released a statement to CNBC regarding Musk's offer, recalling the request made last month by the agency to companies in the space sector regarding the purchase of spacesuits, components and services.
HOW MUCH NASA SPENDS ON SUITS
Since 2007, NASA has initiated three different spacesuit programs, spending $ 420 million on their development. The Inspectorate General's report says the agency wants to invest 652 million in the development and testing of a demonstration suit for the International Space Station – which uses suits designed over forty years ago – and two suits for the crew of the lunar mission. The total cost by 2025 will be over $ 1 billion.
NASA expected to have the spacesuits ready by 2023, so that the moon landing could be made by 2024. The Artemis lunar program – which consists of several missions around the orbit and on the surface of the satellite – was announced by the ' ex-president Donald Trump and is continuing under Joe Biden's current administration.
“TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN”, SAYS ELON MUSK
In short, NASA will not be able to respect the date of 2024 – already considered unrealistic by experts – for the landing on the Moon. Elon Musk, however, had called it "feasible".
His SpaceX became one of the key players in the Artemis program after winning a $ 2.9 billion contract to use his Starship spaceship as a landing craft.
Judging by Musk's tweets, it seems that the billionaire wants to make SpaceX the absolute protagonist of the creation of spacesuits as well. "It seems to me there are too many cooks in the kitchen," he wrote again in response to Michael Sheetz, who this time pointed out that the spacesuits developed by NASA use components supplied by 27 different retailers.
Seems like too many cooks in the kitchen
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 10, 2021
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/elon-musk-nasa-tute-spaziali-missione-luna/ on Thu, 12 Aug 2021 12:40:03 +0000.