Towards Sustainable Exploration:NASA Chooses Corporate Partners

NASA has announced the latest selection of corporate partners,some of them SMEs, for development of Tipping Point technologies paving the way to sustainable exploration of the Moon and Mars. The awards have a total value of more than 370 million dollars, NASA said.According to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine: Together, NASA and industry are building up an array of mission-ready capabilities to support a sustainable presence on the Moon and future human missions to Mars.* The solicitation topic areas were: 1.cryogenic fuel management; 2.lunar surface technologies;and 3.closed-loop descent and landing capability demonstrations. The lion's share of the funding went to maturing cryogenic fuel management technologies via in-space demonstrations by the SME Eta Space, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (Lockheed Martin/Boeing). Frozen water on planetary bodies can be separated into hydrogen and oxygen.Storing these super-cooled liquids for extended periods and transferring them from tank to tank are critical capabilities for sustaining lunar operations and enabling Mars missions.* The lunar surface technologies include in-situ resource utilisation; surface power-generation; and communications. Finnish telecom giant Nokia's Bell Labs subsidiary was selected to develop a 4G mobile network with privately held Intuitive Machines of Houston,Texas for the lunar surface.The space-hardened network will be integrated onto a lunar lander, eventually transitioning to 5G and expanded as more landers carry in more nodes. The network will stream data and commands for remote control robots and sensors,as well as transmit voice communications.* Intuitive Machines will also develop a small deployable hopper lander that can transport a 2.2 pound payload more than 1.5 miles.It is a hopping robot that enables high-resolution surveys of the lunar surface over short distances,including carrying a drill with a mass spectrometer to search for and access water ice at the lunar South Pole. Such technology will enable use of the Moon as a testing ground for the much more daunting missions to Mars.* Lockheed Martin (LMT), Boeing (BA),Nokia (NOK)