The new lander will be capable of carrying four astronauts. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin
The ambitious new vehicle will be twice the size of the lunar landers used during the Apollo missions.
The unveiling demonstrates the aerospace giant's commitment to fulfilling NASA's plan to land humans on the surface of the Moon as a stepping stone towards a future mission to Mars.
The space agency had asked its partners to present plans for both a lander vehicle and an orbiting 'Lunar Gateway' - a manned space station scheduled for completion by the year 2026.
Lockheed's new lander concept, which is designed to shuttle astronauts between the station and the Moon's surface, can carry four astronauts as well as enough fuel and supplies to last two weeks.
After each mission, the crew would return to the station to rest and resupply.
The reusable nature of the spacecraft will make it a far more cost-efficient solution to lunar exploration than the Apollo landers which had to endure launch and re-entry through the Earth's atmosphere.
"NASA asked industry for innovative and new approaches to advance America's goal of returning humans to the Moon, and establishing a sustainable, enduring presence there," said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager of Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin Space.
"This is a concept that takes full advantage of both the Gateway and existing technologies to create a versatile, powerful lander that can be built quickly and affordably."
i totally agree. we need to militarize space NOW, before the other countries do it and we need to have a war to get them out. military base on the moon with powerful moon tanks to stop any other nation from visiting it. the moon is the united states' property, its ours. china and russia stay away. in fact we should bomb their islands they are building and contain them because they are an existential threat to every free man in the world.
the shuttle could have been used with a runway and more directional control jets. after it landed it could have used the runway, jets to push it down, and then after enough speed was built up jets under the front to push the nose up and then full throttle. they would have landed by standing it on its tail and then dropping the front slowly as it decended
what do you need those for at 17%G? not to mention if there was a moon base they would build it where there was water so they could manufacture rocket fuel. you lack proper imagination.
Sorry my bad, I`ve overseen that your "idea" was for a lunar module, but anyway, its nonsense because the shuttle wasnt designed&build (propellant capacity) to reach the second cosmic speed so it would never reach the Moon anyway.
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