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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.<\/p>\n
As part of its revised mission lineup<\/a>, the space agency is planning to test out the landers of both of its private industry\u2019s partners \u2014 SpaceX\u2019s Starship and Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon lander \u2014 in Earth\u2019s orbit sometime in \u201clate 2027<\/a>\u201d as part of its Artemis 3 mission.<\/p>\n Whether either one will be ready for prime time remains a looming question mark. But at least there\u2019s forward motion: in a new blog post<\/a>, NASA noted that Blue Origin\u2019s early Blue Moon prototype, dubbed Mark 1 \u2014 which will be used for an uncrewed test flight ahead of Artemis 3 \u2014 had recently completed evaluations inside the agency\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Mark 1, the largest lunar lander ever built<\/a>, won\u2019t actually be part of NASA\u2019s Artemis 3 mission next year \u2014 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\u2019s South Pole before the end of this year as part of a precursor test launch.<\/p>\n The Mark 1 lander will inform the design of Mark 2, an even more formidable landing system that will eventually house a crew for NASA\u2019s long-awaited Artemis missions and help \u201cestablish a permanent presence on the Moon,\u201d per Blue Origin\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Still, nobody knows when the first astronauts will step foot inside the first Mark 2 lander once it\u2019s built. For one, Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn, the rocket designed to carry Blue Moon into orbit, experienced a major setback last month<\/a>, failing to release a small communications satellite into a high enough orbit<\/a>, forcing it to be destroyed.<\/p>\n It could\u2019ve ended even worse. According to TechCrunch<\/a>, Mark 1 was originally meant to be part of the botched launch.<\/p>\n In short, plenty of doubt remains surrounding the rocket\u2019s flightworthiness and ability to deliver the behemoth, 26-foot lander structure and its massive vacuum-rated engine into orbit, let alone support a crew of astronauts.<\/p>\n The leap from Mark 1 to Mark 2 could also pose its own set of challenges as Blue Origin figures out the requirements to ensure that astronauts remain safe while in orbit.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s official website<\/a> for its upcoming Artemis 3 mission notes that it will test \u201cone or both\u201d of its commercial landers, leaving the possibility that it may not be part of the test at all.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, SpaceX also has yet to launch and land its Starship spacecraft successfully. Most recently, the Elon Musk-led company fired up the latest iteration<\/a>, dubbed \u201cVersion 3,\u201d on the launchpad ahead of the platform\u2019s 12th test launch, which still doesn\u2019t have an official date. Road closure advisories near SpaceX\u2019s testing facilities suggest<\/a> it could happen as soon as next week.<\/p>\n More on Artemis:<\/strong> NASA\u2019s Moon Landing Schedule Slipping Horrendously Under Trump<\/a><\/p>\n \t