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Do these mock ups have to be tested by the actual astronauts? They need to be trained yes but wondering why waste their time for testing these that are still in development.?View attachment 1002955NASA Astronauts Test SpaceX Elevator Concept for Artemis Lunar Lander - NASA
NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Doug “Wheels” Wheelock participated in a recent test of a sub-scale mockup elevator for SpaceX’s Starship human landing system
Gear can be bulky. Given the design and given operation in 17% Earth gravity, it looks like they expect to offload some seriously-beefy items. But never larger than the interior of that cab. I wonder if there's a crane for offloading particularly large and bulky items.
They're also providing feedback. Not that they've ever been on the Moon, but they know what it's like to operate in suits.
So that when the astronauts are exposed to the real version, it's usable for them. Same deal as Crew Dragon. Early design feedback.
spacenews.com
Well that would be a surprise if they can pull that off.
If SpaceX bothered to make a lander. Technically they just helped get a lander on the Moon beating BO already.
What do you mean? HLS Starship is their lander. No sign of a hull yet, but we've heard of bits and bobs. We don't get to see much of their small scale work because they don't roll it down the highway.
It would not surprise me to see SpaceX attempt a lunar landing of an empty Starship within 12 months from now.
According to my calculators, 5.66 km/s delta-v is needed to go from LEO to the Moon's surface, and an empty Starship would just make it with 400 tons of propellant. That assumes a dry mass of 100 tons for Starship.
Ecarfan was commenting on the "cargo" version of the BO lander. SpaceX is focused on the "human rated" lander. They could, and maybe will, make a cargo version of the HLS first but it hasn't been talked about or shown. But realistically, if SpaceX wanted to do it, they could make a F9 or FH cargo lander for the Moon in less than a year.
Wait a minute…I thought you were of the opinion that robot explorers were better suited than fragile humans for missions beyond LEO?
Robots are better suited to all off-planet activities, but I'm not going to keep ragging on good people for pursuing their dreams. If they're going to train as astronauts, they obviously want to be walking on the Moon. I hope they realize their dream.Wait a minute…I thought you were of the opinion that robot explorers were better suited than fragile humans for missions beyond LEO?
Personally, I want to see giant pressurized sub surface caves where tourists can strap on some wings and actually fly.
