Hi everybody and welcome back to the show.
In today's episode, we're going to focus on the monumental
strides being taken in the Artemis program to land humans
back on the moon. With Artemis 1 successfully
completed an Artemis 2 on track for a late 2024, possibly 2025
launch, the space community is buzzing with anticipation now.
The key person responsible for this moon landing endeavor is
Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan, the manager of the Human Landing
System Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
Now our conversation today, We'll look at the hurdles and
the opportunities presented by both SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's
company, Blue Origin, as they develop Landers that could soon
be making history. Now Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan is
sort of the linchpin when it comes to the mission of landing
humans back on the moon. She's working on some hefty
challenges, but as she puts it right now, today, I don't see
anything that's stopping us. Watson Morgan appreciates the
innovation SpaceX has contributed, particularly with
its advancements in rocket capabilities.
Now Spacex's partnership with Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin
experience from their Orion program also bodes well for the
Artemis missions in the future. But the excitement doesn't come
without a dose of realism. As a senior director of human
spaceflight programs at SpaceX, Benji Reed put it during a
fireside chat. Launch is signal and everything
else is noise. The emphasis is on doing rather
than theorizing, on testing rather than speculating.
It's this hands on approach that's shaping the HLS programs
future. Now, the next big task for
Watson Morgan and her team is Spacex's Starship, designed to
serve as the upper stage of a two stage rocket, and tests are
underway at Starbase near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas, and
every test flight is another step closer to making moon
landings a reality. However, Watson Morgan expresses
concern about Spacex's very tight schedule, emphasizing that
test flights are critical to hardware development.
Now, regulatory issues also play a role in shaping the HLS
program. For instance, SpaceX is pending
approval from the US Fish and Wildlife Service due to concerns
about the water deluge system added to the Starship launchpad,
and regulatory milestones may seem mundane and boring, but
they're very essential for maintaining the integrity of
space missions and ensuring environmental stewardship.
Now, it's not just about rockets and Landers, though, it's about
the meticulous work behind the scenes.
The people that are in this from medical kit testing to training,
system delivery and crew displays, every aspect is being
looked into and worked on right now.
And Watson, Morgan highlighted. While the world is captivated by
spectacular tests and giant rockets being launched, her team
is working closely with SpaceX to address all mission unique
milestones. Now this is the Blue Origin
part, the Jeff Bezos part. And while SpaceX has been in the
spotlight, Blue Origin is also playing a role in the HLS
program. Headed by a national team that
includes industry giants like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and
others, Blue Origin is developing the Blue Moon Mark
Two Lander, their MK2. This Lander promises to be a
game changer, capable of transporting up to 30 metric
tons in One Direction. Now Watson, Morgan, and our team
are dividing their attention and resources equally between SpaceX
and Blue Origin. It's always good to have a
backup, to have two different systems in case something fails,
and they're recognizing the unique challenges and
technologies each company brings to the table.
Now Blue Origin is working with hydrogen as fuel, unlike
Spacex's methane, but both need to solve similar engineering
challenges like propellant transfer.
Spacex's Dragon spacecraft has already been a successful
venture for the company and docking many times with the
International Space Station and taking numerous humans into
space. Now the insights gained from
Dragon's operations are now being applied to Starship.
Both SpaceX and Watson Morgan appreciate the overlap in tech
in lessons that can be shared between the two spacecraft.
And Watson Morgan draws parallels between the HLS
program and the Commercial Crew Program or the CCP.
She noted that the HLS program also borrows ideas of having
unfettered access to the contractors and providers base
data to streamline decision making and enhance efficiency,
and this approach allows her and her team to resolve issues much
faster, a critical factor in keeping the program on schedule.
Now as we look ahead to 2024 though, the propellant transfer
demonstration is going to be a huge step forward that could
significantly affect the trajectory of future missions.
Successfully demonstrating this tech not only gets us closer to
the moon, but also opens doors for future solar system
exploration. Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan is
particularly focused on this test as it'll lay the foundation
for subsequent missions ensuring that both SpaceX and Blue
Origins technology can effectively operate in lunar
conditions. And beyond propellant transfers,
Watson Morgan and her team are also deeply invested in the
human factors of these missions. Training astronauts to adapt to
the conditions in a lunar Lander is not a simple task, and
simulations are being run to prepare them for every
conceivable scenario. Now mock Landers are being used
to fine tune not just the astronauts actions, but also the
technology that will be on board that they'll be using to pilot
this craft to the moon. What's also interesting is the
pace at which these developments are happening.
With the target of 2024 for Artemis 2, there's little room
to delay. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are
involved in rigorous testing, from propellant storage to
flammability tests within crew cabins to make sure everything
is set for these lunar missions. And these tests are becoming
increasingly complex, involving not just individual components
but integrated systems, a crucial step forward for the
actual flights and Watson. Morgan holds weekly meetings
with Blue Origin and more frequent ones if necessary, to
ensure that the program stays on track.
And these check insurance are more than just status updates.
They're collaborative sessions of a team where problems are
identified, solutions proposed, and action items are assigned
and delivered. And with the countdown to 2024
right around the corner, there's a sense of urgency, but also a
collective determination to make history.
Once again, thank you for joining me on this episode of
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