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NASA awarded nearly $ 1 billion in contracts Thursday to
three space companies, including those of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, to
develop lunar landers like the United States, seeks to return humans to the
Moon.
Human landing system contracts were delivered to Musk
SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics from Bezos, which receive $ 967 million.
The three will compete with each other for the contract.
period, which ends in February 2021, when NASA will decide which of them will have a
opportunity to perform demo missions.
“The United States advances with the last necessary step
landing astronauts on the Moon by 2024, including the incredible time when
you will see the first woman step on the lunar surface, “NASA said
Administrator Jim Bridenstine.
“This is the first time since the Apollo era that NASA
has direct funding for a human landing system, and now we have companies in
contract to do the job for the Artemis program. “
The human landing system is one of the central elements of the
Artemis mission, along with the rock from the Space Launch System, the Orion crew
capsule headed by Lockheed Martin and Gateway, a small space station that
will orbit the moon.
The announcement occurs when the world faces
coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 230,000 people since its first appearance
It emerged in China late last year and has stopped the world economy.
Bridenstine said it was more important to him than ever
mission to move forward.
“I mean it is important that this agency do
this now, because our country, and indeed the entire world, has been rocked by
this coronavirus pandemic, “Bridenstine said.
“And yet we have to give people hope. We have to give
something they can admire, dream about, something that
inspire not only the nation but the whole world. “
