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posted by chromas on Friday October 05 2018, @02:22AM   Printer-friendly
from the the-gorgotron-approaches dept.

Jeff Bezos Is Planning to Ship 'Several Metric Tons of Cargo' to the Moon

Blue Origin, described by Bezos as "the most important work I'm doing," signed a letter of intent with German aerospace companies OHB Space Systems and Security and MT Aerospace at the 69th annual International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Germany on Tuesday. The OHB SE dubbed the lunar project the "Blue Moon" mission in a press release.

It's not clear exactly what cargo the Blue Moon mission would transport, but it likely includes infrastructure designed to start private business on the Moon: The IAC also detailed the launch of the "Moon Race," a competition between Blue Origin, Airbus Air and Space, and other space agencies around the world to develop technology that will bring companies around the world to the Moon.

According to a press release, the competition could involve manufacturing products and technology, manufacturing energy sources for humans to survive, getting access to water and sustaining biological life, such as plant or agricultural life—all on the Moon.

Also at Space.com.

Related: Blue Origin to Compete to Launch U.S. Military Payloads
NASA Administrator Ponders the Fate of SLS in Interview (Blue Origin targets Moon landing by 2023)
SpaceX Reveals Plan to Fly Yusaku Maezawa and Artists "Around the Moon" in a BFR
Blue Origin Wins Contract to Supply United Launch Alliance With BE-4 Rocket Engines


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 05 2018, @06:52AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 05 2018, @06:52AM (#744536)

    Weapons in space to not make a lot of sense:
    1. Fragile
    2. Unmaintainable
    3. Everyone knows exactly where they are
    4. RE: The moon, any weapon launched from the moon, besides being insanely expensive would take at best a day to reach Earth
    5. Easily defended against

  • (Score: 4, Informative) by deimtee on Friday October 05 2018, @11:00AM

    by deimtee (3272) on Friday October 05 2018, @11:00AM (#744578) Journal

    Debatable on 1. Wrong on 2, 3, 4, 5.
    You need to read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein, He got the computers wrong, but the kinetic weapons stuff is spot on.*

    *as expected really. Mike was a massive extrapolation of 1960's mainframes. The kinetic weapons are just physics.
     

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    If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday October 05 2018, @03:29PM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday October 05 2018, @03:29PM (#744647) Journal

    What deimtee says. The Lunies or the Belters toss a bunch of rocks at us. We all realize that there are more rocks up there, than there are nuclear weapons down here, right? In fact, there are more rocks up there, than we have weapons - full stop. Rocks in space are infinite, weapons on earth are finite. Those rocks don't need to reach earth quickly. It doesn't matter if it takes six months for a rock to reach earth, after being nudged in this direction. How ya gonna defend against hundreds, thousands, or even millions of inbound rocks? And, remember, the rocks are fire and forget. No one has to drive a rock, or babysit it, or even keep an eye on it.

    Your "insane expensive" may be applicable right now, today. Three generations in the future? Rail guns aren't really all that expensive.

    Once there are enough people in space to declare themselves a nation, it's Katy bar the door for any earth nations trying to impose their will on the spacers. Vacuum jockeys will have almost all the advantage, aside from monetary wealth. And, realize, it doesn't take money to kill people, or to kill cities. Just a bunch of rocks, a bunch of solar panels, and a good rail gun.

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    “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz