NASA Selects SpaceX To Launch First Female Lunar Landing Mission Support Cargo

Dragon Capsules (Source: SpaceX)

JAKARTA - On its mission to fly a cargo or cargo into an orbit that is farther from the International Space Station (ISS), NASA finally chose SpaceX for the project. Later, they will send a cargo of scientific experiments and other supplies to the Lunar Gateway.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is getting worse in the United States (US), NASA is still looking forward to the long-term goal of sending humans back to the lunar surface. And now, they're asking SpaceX to start shipping cargo to the Moon in the near future.

As reported by The Verge, Sunday, March 29, this cargo served as a preparation point for a mission to the lunar south pole. The mission will be carried out under the Artemis program, an initiative to land the first woman on the lunar surface by 2024.

As part of the program, NASA has proposed building a space station in orbit around the moon called a "gateway", where astronauts can work and train before heading to lunar land. And SpaceX was the first commercial aviation equipment provider NASA chose for the project.

At least, in the next few years, SpaceX will carry out two missions while the station is operational and remains in lunar orbit. "Returning to the moon and supporting future space exploration requires delivering significant quantities of cargo at an affordable price," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in an official statement.

"Through our partnership with NASA, SpaceX has delivered critical scientific research and supplies to the International Space Station since 2012, and we are honored to continue work beyond Earth orbit and bring Artemis cargo to the gateway," added Shotwell.

NASA hopes to start building a lunar post in 2022. Later, Elon Musk's space company SpaceX will use a Dragon XL capsule variant, different from the one it uses for the ISS mission.

The Dragon XL capsule can carry more than five metric tons of cargo for its gateway missions. Dragon plans to fly on a Falcon Heavy rocket. Unlike the normal Dragon capsules which only dock to the ISS for a few weeks, the gateway capsules will remain on station for six to 12 months.

According to NASA, the Dragon XL will carry things like sample collection material and other items that crews may need at the gateways and during their expeditions to the lunar surface. However, other reports are circulating that it is likely that SpaceX will not be the only company tasked with delivering supplies to Gateway.

Ultimately, NASA has the option of adding multiple cargo suppliers and has allocated funds of up to US $ 7 billion to meet the requirements for cargo contracts under the Artemis program. Each contract guarantees that NASA will order at least two cargo missions per provider and NASA can request missions of up to 12 years of life.

Over the past few years, NASA officials have argued that building the Gateway is an important part of the Artemis program, as it will help the space agency build a sustainable mission around the Moon, rather than just sending astronauts to the lunar surface to plant flags and footprints.

Even so, the US government has challenged NASA to land its first Artemis astronaut in 2024 and with that deadline approaching, the space agency may not have enough time to build a gateway if it wants to return humans to the Moon within the next four years.