NASA is not too pretty with the Mask plans to fly to the moon in 2018

Recently, SpaceX announced its intention to send two tourists to fly around the moon at the end of next year. As far as you can understand, Ilona Mask’s company already knows who they will send, since it has been announced that people will begin training this year. Moreover, tourists finance the whole (or almost all) lunar program (see below). Detailed information about who will fly will be published after all potential project participants pass a series of tests of a medical nature.

Without a heavy launch vehicle, such a flight will not be possible, so the company plans to use the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle it is currently developing. In fact, these are three Falcon missiles combined into a single unit. As for the spacecraft, it will be Dragon 2. The development of the launch vehicle is funded by SpaceX, and Dragon 2, mainly by NASA. Moreover, it seems that the agency’s management is not too happy with the news about the lunar Mask project.

Why is that? After all, NASA is a long-time SpaceX partner providing large sums to a young company. In 2008, NASA signed a contract with the space company Ilona Mask for $ 1.8 billion, in order to obtain a new “space cab driver” capable of delivering people and cargo to the ISS and back. NASA also agreed with Muskom to provide his company with a few more billions for the implementation of the main projects, the main one being the spacecraft Dragon 2. Almost immediately after the news of the intention to fly to the moon, NASA made, at first glance, SpaceX supporting the statement where it was said: "NASA endorses the desire of its partners to achieve more."
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But this is only at first glance. The fact that NASA is not quite satisfied with the speed of SpaceX’s work on the contract concluded with the agency can be understood from the following phrase of the statement: “We will work with SpaceX to make sure that we have fulfilled the contractual obligations to return the astronaut launch site to the US and continue successful delivery of cargo to the ISS ". This can only mean one thing - the agency asks its partner, who is paid huge funds from the budget, to focus on the implementation of a very expensive contract. SpaceX wants to throw a significant part of its resources on the implementation of new plans.

A few unsuccessful moments with NASA Mask

In general, the cooperation of NASA and SpaceX can be called productive. But there are also a lot of problems:

• In June 2015, the Falcon 9 rocket exploded after two minutes of flight. NASA lost 2.5 tons of payloads, including a rather expensive gateway element. The agency supported SpaceX, the flights continued. But it was a sensitive blow;
• To save time and money, SpaceX offered to fill the rocket with cooled elements of the fuel system immediately before launch, already with the crew on board. But last September this system crashed and Falcon 9 exploded right on the launch pad. The explosion destroyed the rocket and satellite that she was to put into orbit. The Dragon ship has a crew evacuation system, so the astronauts would most likely have survived. But NASA has a lot of doubts about the proposed rocket refueling scheme;
• Also last year, SpaceX loudly announced plans to colonize Mars by 2020. The company said that the cost of sending the first colonists to Mars is only $ 10 billion. But the problem is that the project is implemented, SpaceX is also needed and the Interplanetary Transport System , which has already been discussed at Geektimes . Its development is expensive, requiring the infusion of very large sums of money. Whom SpaceX sees as a source of finance? NASA. And this is despite the fact that the agency has its own (also very expensive) flight plan to Mars, but not by 2020, but by 2030;
• More recently, NASA announced its intention to assess the implementation of a project to send two astronauts on a trip around the moon in 2019. It was planned to carry out such a flight using the Space Launch System launch vehicle and the Orion spacecraft. And almost immediately, SpaceX announces its own plans for the implementation of the same project, only a year earlier than NASA;
• SpaceX has many plans, but there are also obligations to NASA. And they are not performed very well. Earlier, the company Mask promised to start sending astronauts to the ISS at the end of 2017. Now the deadline has shifted, and the second half of 2018 is already in the plans to send people into orbit. Due to the failure of the deadlines, NASA had to buy five places for the American team on the Soyuz, which the agency hadn’t planned to do. The total amount of the contract was $ 373.5 million.

Sources close to NASA believe that the SpaceX statement appeared very inappropriate, since the company has yet to adjust the process of sending American astronauts to the ISS. This position reflects the opinion of the management of the agency.

SpaceX News

The company said on Monday that plans to fly around the moon had appeared after two potential space travelers had contacted the management. They offered to finance the project, leaving deposits (refundable or not - not reported), becoming the first people who flew to the Moon for 40 years. The duration of this trip, according to calculations, will be about a week.

“It really happened. We will realize a manned mission to the Moon ... (and passengers) are serious about this. We plan to accomplish the mission using the Dragon 2 spacecraft and Falcon Heavy rockets, ”Musk told reporters. In general, the expedition will be similar to the Apollo 13 mission.

The amount that travelers allocate will remain unknown. But Musk made a reservation that the price of travel will be slightly higher than sending people to the ISS with the help of Falcon Heavy. And this is about $ 300 million. The company hopes that this will be only the first flight in a series of similar trips for space tourists. SpaceX believes that flights to the Moon can bring a company a tenth of annual revenue.

As mentioned above, the identity of these people is also unknown. Ilon Musk only said that they are not connected with Hollywood and know each other well. During the trip the ship with tourists will pass about 500-600 thousand kilometers. The flight duration is about a week. Landing on the satellite is not planned.

Mask's enthusiasm is contagious, and, in general, the project itself flyby the moon looks promising. The problem is that so far the company does not have the technical ability to fly to the moon. The Falcon Heavy booster is not ready yet, although its tests are scheduled for this year. How things stand in reality is still unclear. True, in January, SpaceX announced that the company plans to return all launch stages of its missiles to Earth intact. This reduces the launch cost (estimated value - about $ 90 million for Falcon Heavy).

"Our actions must meet US expectations that the delivery of cargo into space can be reduced, which will make the study of outer space more accessible," Musk said earlier. For the simultaneous landing of steps, the company is preparing two additional platforms. If we manage to agree on their use with US regulators, the steps will be returned to land, if not, one of the steps will return to the launch pad, the other two will land on SpaceX platforms in the Atlantic Ocean.



Dragon 2, a spacecraft that is being developed with NASA money, is also not ready yet. The manned flight of this ship to the ISS will take place no earlier than May 2018. In addition, the contract with NASA provides two more such flight. Musk promises to send tourists only after the implementation of agreements with NASA.

According to third-party experts, the company Mask may be mistaken in the timing of the lunar project. “Timing is not the strongest side of SpaceX. This (project - ed.) Looks risky. I consider the SpaceX statement to be unusual in light of the fact that the company must still fulfill its obligations to deliver astronauts to Earth orbit, ”said Mary Lynn Dittmar, executive director of Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, an organization that includes representatives of aerospace companies.

Overall, all is well

Despite the fact that a number of experts (including NASA staff members) express cautious concerns about SpaceX plans, there are no unsolvable problems. In its message, which was already mentioned above, NASA claims that the agency’s partners are free to develop their own projects, including next-generation rockets, spacecraft and deep space exploration programs.

NASA is not concerned about the program itself, but the fact that SpaceX is not very good at meeting its obligations on time. In addition, NASA may not like the fact that SpaceX demonstrates its willingness to carry out projects similar to those implemented by the agency for much smaller amounts. This is a direct competition, but here no one can do anything. Yes, and nothing needs to be done, because rivalry in the space sphere often leads to faster implementation of any programs.