They did without Musk: NASA has chosen Blue Origin to launch a mission to Mars
NASA has announced that two scientific spacecraft will travel to Mars in August 2024 aboard a Blue Origin rocket owned by Jeff Bezos.
This decision apparently came about after Elon Musk’s SpaceX encountered difficulties in its attempts to deliver Falcon Heavy rockets to Mars orbit.
Initially, SpaceX planned to deliver NASA’s spacecraft to Mars in October this year with the Psyche mission. However, problems with the Falcon Heavy forced the space agency to abandon the use of this rocket.
Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ company, will provide the New Glenn rocket for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission. Each of the two spacecraft will perform three experiments, studying the effect of the solar wind on the planet’s magnetosphere.
This decision by NASA is part of a strategy to use private contractors to save money on the journey to Mars. Flexible contracts with lower launch costs allow for greater access to space.
The news of a change in the plans of the US space agency brings a new chapter to the history of competition in the space race between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Their companies won multibillion-dollar NASA contracts to fly to the moon earlier this year, but Blue Origin got the chance to participate in the Martian mission.
