DeepSummary
The podcast discusses the Artemis missions, NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon. Originally scheduled for 2024 under the Trump administration, the timeline has now been pushed back to 2025 for Artemis 2 and 2026 for the lunar landing with Artemis 3. This is due to the difficulty and complexity of the missions.
Unlike the Apollo missions, NASA now plans to establish a more permanent presence on the Moon by utilizing resources like water ice present at the lunar south pole. However, NASA is partnering with private commercial space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin to build the lunar landers and have them own and operate these vehicles.
The episode also covers the commercialization of low-Earth orbit, with NASA looking to rent space from private space stations being built by companies like Axiom Space. This transition from government to commercial operations in space is seen as both efficient but also potentially compromising the dignity and aspiration of space exploration.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- NASA has delayed its Artemis moon missions, with crewed lunar landings now targeted for 2026 instead of 2024 due to the difficulty of these ambitious missions.
- NASA is partnering with commercial space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop lunar landers and leverage their growing capabilities.
- The Artemis program aims to establish a long-term human presence on the Moon by utilizing lunar resources like water ice, unlike the brief Apollo missions.
- The increasing commercialization of space activities is seen as efficient but also potentially compromising the aspirational goals of space exploration.
- There are doubts about commercial space ventures being economically viable in the near future, especially for endeavors beyond low-Earth orbit.
- China is a competing spacefaring nation motivating NASA and the US to establish a presence on the Moon to take advantage of lunar resources.
- In addition to Moon missions, NASA is looking to commercial companies to develop private space stations to maintain a presence in low-Earth orbit.
- The transition towards public-private space partnerships is an evolution of NASA's model but concentrates power in the hands of a few companies like SpaceX.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “So this was actually a plan called Artemis that was born during the Trump administration, where they decided they wanted to focus NASA on returning astronauts to the moon.“ by Chris Davenport
- “Now it's with China, and because of the presence of water and because of the presence of other resources there, both countries want to set up a more permanent presence and really stay there in order to take advantage of the resources there, which, again, is very different from Apollo.“ by Chris Davenport
- “NASA is trying to harness the growing capability in the commercial space sector. And so SpaceX won that contract to build the spacecraft, known as starship, to ferry astronauts to and from the lunar surface and on subsequent missions.“ by Chris Davenport
- “You do wonder if there shouldn't be a better balance of the two somehow. But I do think with the commercialization of space, you are losing those early days and the sort of probity and the sort of nostalgia that we had for that era.“ by Chris Davenport
- “But whether that model will continue as we move out from low Earth orbit to the moon and if there's any kind of economic activity on and around the moon, that remains to be seen. And if that's going to happen, it's not going to be really anytime soon.“ by Chris Davenport
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Episode Information
Today, Explained
Vox
1/19/24
NASA has long relied on private companies to build its rockets, but now it’s turning to private companies to own and operate them too. Washington Post space reporter Christian Davenport explains the new commercial space race.
This episode was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
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