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Hi everybody and welcome back to
the show. 

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In today's episode, we're going 
to focus on the monumental 

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strides being taken in the 
Artemis program to land humans 

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back on the moon. 
With Artemis 1 successfully 

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completed an Artemis 2 on track 
for a late 2024, possibly 2025 

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launch, the space community is 
buzzing with anticipation now. 

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The key person responsible for 
this moon landing endeavor is 

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Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan, the 
manager of the Human Landing 

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System Program at NASA's 
Marshall Space Flight Center. 

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Now our conversation today, 
We'll look at the hurdles and 

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the opportunities presented by 
both SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's 

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company, Blue Origin, as they 
develop Landers that could soon 

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be making history. 
Now Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan is

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sort of the linchpin when it 
comes to the mission of landing 

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humans back on the moon. 
She's working on some hefty 

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challenges, but as she puts it 
right now, today, I don't see 

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anything that's stopping us. 
Watson Morgan appreciates the 

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innovation SpaceX has 
contributed, particularly with 

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its advancements in rocket 
capabilities. 

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Now Spacex's partnership with 
Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin 

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experience from their Orion 
program also bodes well for the 

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Artemis missions in the future. 
But the excitement doesn't come 

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without a dose of realism. 
As a senior director of human 

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spaceflight programs at SpaceX, 
Benji Reed put it during a 

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fireside chat. 
Launch is signal and everything 

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else is noise. 
The emphasis is on doing rather 

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than theorizing, on testing 
rather than speculating. 

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It's this hands on approach 
that's shaping the HLS programs 

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future. 
Now, the next big task for 

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Watson Morgan and her team is 
Spacex's Starship, designed to 

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serve as the upper stage of a 
two stage rocket, and tests are 

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underway at Starbase near Boca 
Chica Beach in South Texas, and 

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every test flight is another 
step closer to making moon 

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landings a reality. 
However, Watson Morgan expresses

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concern about Spacex's very 
tight schedule, emphasizing that

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test flights are critical to 
hardware development. 

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Now, regulatory issues also play
a role in shaping the HLS 

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program. 
For instance, SpaceX is pending 

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approval from the US Fish and 
Wildlife Service due to concerns

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about the water deluge system 
added to the Starship launchpad,

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and regulatory milestones may 
seem mundane and boring, but 

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they're very essential for 
maintaining the integrity of 

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space missions and ensuring 
environmental stewardship. 

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Now, it's not just about rockets
and Landers, though, it's about 

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the meticulous work behind the 
scenes. 

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The people that are in this from
medical kit testing to training,

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system delivery and crew 
displays, every aspect is being 

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looked into and worked on right 
now. 

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And Watson, Morgan highlighted. 
While the world is captivated by

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spectacular tests and giant 
rockets being launched, her team

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is working closely with SpaceX 
to address all mission unique 

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milestones. 
Now this is the Blue Origin 

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part, the Jeff Bezos part. 
And while SpaceX has been in the

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spotlight, Blue Origin is also 
playing a role in the HLS 

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program. 
Headed by a national team that 

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includes industry giants like 
Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and 

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others, Blue Origin is 
developing the Blue Moon Mark 

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Two Lander, their MK2. 
This Lander promises to be a 

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game changer, capable of 
transporting up to 30 metric 

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tons in One Direction. 
Now Watson, Morgan, and our team

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are dividing their attention and
resources equally between SpaceX

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and Blue Origin. 
It's always good to have a 

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backup, to have two different 
systems in case something fails,

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and they're recognizing the 
unique challenges and 

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technologies each company brings
to the table. 

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Now Blue Origin is working with 
hydrogen as fuel, unlike 

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Spacex's methane, but both need 
to solve similar engineering 

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challenges like propellant 
transfer. 

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Spacex's Dragon spacecraft has 
already been a successful 

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venture for the company and 
docking many times with the 

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International Space Station and 
taking numerous humans into 

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space. 
Now the insights gained from 

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Dragon's operations are now 
being applied to Starship. 

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Both SpaceX and Watson Morgan 
appreciate the overlap in tech 

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in lessons that can be shared 
between the two spacecraft. 

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And Watson Morgan draws 
parallels between the HLS 

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program and the Commercial Crew 
Program or the CCP. 

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She noted that the HLS program 
also borrows ideas of having 

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unfettered access to the 
contractors and providers base 

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data to streamline decision 
making and enhance efficiency, 

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and this approach allows her and
her team to resolve issues much 

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faster, a critical factor in 
keeping the program on schedule.

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Now as we look ahead to 2024 
though, the propellant transfer 

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demonstration is going to be a 
huge step forward that could 

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significantly affect the 
trajectory of future missions. 

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Successfully demonstrating this 
tech not only gets us closer to 

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the moon, but also opens doors 
for future solar system 

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exploration. 
Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan is 

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particularly focused on this 
test as it'll lay the foundation

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for subsequent missions ensuring
that both SpaceX and Blue 

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Origins technology can 
effectively operate in lunar 

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conditions. 
And beyond propellant transfers,

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Watson Morgan and her team are 
also deeply invested in the 

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human factors of these missions.
Training astronauts to adapt to 

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the conditions in a lunar Lander
is not a simple task, and 

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simulations are being run to 
prepare them for every 

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conceivable scenario. 
Now mock Landers are being used 

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to fine tune not just the 
astronauts actions, but also the

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technology that will be on board
that they'll be using to pilot 

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this craft to the moon. 
What's also interesting is the 

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pace at which these developments
are happening. 

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With the target of 2024 for 
Artemis 2, there's little room 

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to delay. 
Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are 

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involved in rigorous testing, 
from propellant storage to 

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flammability tests within crew 
cabins to make sure everything 

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is set for these lunar missions.
And these tests are becoming 

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increasingly complex, involving 
not just individual components 

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but integrated systems, a 
crucial step forward for the 

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actual flights and Watson. 
Morgan holds weekly meetings 

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with Blue Origin and more 
frequent ones if necessary, to 

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ensure that the program stays on
track. 

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And these check insurance are 
more than just status updates. 

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They're collaborative sessions 
of a team where problems are 

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identified, solutions proposed, 
and action items are assigned 

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and delivered. 
And with the countdown to 2024 

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right around the corner, there's
a sense of urgency, but also a 

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collective determination to make
history. 

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Once again, thank you for 
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