Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) founder and billionaire investor Jeff Bezos are looking to set history on taking the first woman to the surface of the moon. The world’s richest man has confirmed that his space company Blue Origin is preparing the BE-7 engine to take the first woman to the moon in an Instagram post.
Moon Landing Mission
While women have flown to space, none has ever touched foot on the moon’s surface. NASA is looking to change all this, having confirmed that the first woman to complete a lunar landing will be drawn from the current astronaut corps.
Blue Origin has already carried out its fourth successful thrust chamber test series. The BE-7 engines thrust have now been fired a little over 1,245 seconds. The engine uses the most efficient propellants optimal for deep-space maneuvers. This is the engine that Bezos expects to power NASA astronauts back to the moon in 2024, including the first woman.
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NASA Space Ambitions
Bezos Blue Origin has developed a high-performance engine capable of producing 10,000 pounds-force of thrust. The engine is poised to power the Human Landing System. Its development has been accelerated by NASA taking on extensive private sector partnerships to help expedite the lunar mission.
The space company is currently entangled in a fierce competition with Elon Musk SpaceX and Dyenetics in the race to build the next human lunar landing system. NASA has already confirmed plans to choose two companies by March next year to build the first lunar landers.
In the recent past, the U.S space agency has awarded Blue Origin $579 million as part of the lunar lander development contract. Likewise, it has also given SpaceX $135 million to develop the Starship system. Part of Bezos long term plan with Blue Origin is to fuel space tourism by taking humans into space as tourists.
The Blue Origin team includes the likes of Lockheed Martin that is spearheading the Ascent Element and crewed flight operations as well as training. The team also includes Northrop Grumman taking care of the Transfer Element used to deliver the lander into the low lunar orbit.
