In just a few short years, a spacecraft that looks something like a flying water tower will land at the lunar south pole, carrying astronauts back to the Moon's surface for the first time since NASA’s Apollo program. That’s only if things go Jeff Bezos’ way, of course. But then again, these days, they typically do.
The Blue Moon spacecraft is a lunar lander designed to haul cargo, and potentially people, to the lunar surface on future missions. It’s currently being developed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin. Once completed, Blue Moon should be capable of delivering nearly 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms) to the Moon. By comparison, NASA’s Apollo lunar module, the “LM,” was designed to haul up to 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg).
Blue Moon’s impressive cargo capacity, coupled with modern technology, could enable the stuff of sci-fi dreams. Not only could the spacecraft haul the freight needed to build lunar bases or telescopes on the Moon, it also might safely land many batches of astronauts on the lunar surface.
