New Delhi:
Blue Moon Lunar Lander: Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world and head of space company Blue Origin on Thursday unveiled his space company's lunar lander. Bezos also unveiled the company's BE-7 rocket engine at the event. The engine will be test fired for the first time this summer. He announced his intension to participate in the new race to the Moon. "This incredible vehicle is going to the moon," Bezos said at the unveiling event. It will weigh more than three metric tons empty, 15 fully fuelled, and be capable of carrying 3.6 tons to the lunar surface—or 6.5 in a variant model.
It is supported by four legs, with an upper deck where equipment can be fixed. A large tank of liquefied nitrogen fuel occupies its centre. However, Bezos didn’t announce any specific date for the launch.
“My generation’s job is to build the infrastructure,” said Bezos. “We’re going to build the road to space.” Blue Origin is working on two other major projects: New Shepard, a suborbital rocket to fly tourists into space; and New Glenn, a heavy lift, partly reusable launch rocket.
Blue Moon will send couple tons of cargo to the surface of the moon, to begin building the infrastructure of a lunar base.
Blue Origin's most visible program has been its New Shepard rocket system, which the company is developing to send tourists to the edge of space for 10 minutes. New Shepard has flown on 11 test flights, with its capsule, built to carry six passengers, reaching an altitude of more than 350,000. The capsule features massive windows, providing expansive views of the Earth once in space, CNBC reported.
Blue Moon is planning to end humans onboard a New Shepard rocket likely in the next year.
