Hi everybody and welcome back to the show. In today's episode, we're going to focus on the monumental strides being taken in the Artemis program to land humans back on the moon. With Artemis 1 successfully completed an Artemis 2 on track for a late 2024, possibly 2025 launch, the space community is buzzing with anticipation now.
The key person responsible for this moon landing endeavor is Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan, the manager of the Human Landing System Program at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Now our conversation today, We'll look at the hurdles and the opportunities presented by both SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's company, Blue Origin, as they develop Landers that could soon be making history. Now Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan is sort of the linchpin when it comes to the mission of landing
humans back on the moon. She's working on some hefty challenges, but as she puts it right now, today, I don't see anything that's stopping us. Watson Morgan appreciates the innovation SpaceX has contributed, particularly with its advancements in rocket capabilities. Now Spacex's partnership with Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin experience from their Orion program also bodes well for the Artemis missions in the future. But the excitement doesn't come
without a dose of realism. As a senior director of human spaceflight programs at SpaceX, Benji Reed put it during a fireside chat. Launch is signal and everything else is noise. The emphasis is on doing rather than theorizing, on testing rather than speculating. It's this hands on approach that's shaping the HLS programs
future. Now, the next big task for Watson Morgan and her team is Spacex's Starship, designed to serve as the upper stage of a two stage rocket, and tests are underway at Starbase near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas, and every test flight is another step closer to making moon landings a reality. However, Watson Morgan expresses concern about Spacex's very tight schedule, emphasizing that test flights are critical to hardware development.
Now, regulatory issues also play a role in shaping the HLS program. For instance, SpaceX is pending approval from the US Fish and Wildlife Service due to concerns about the water deluge system added to the Starship launchpad, and regulatory milestones may seem mundane and boring, but they're very essential for maintaining the integrity of space missions and ensuring environmental stewardship.
Now, it's not just about rockets and Landers, though, it's about the meticulous work behind the scenes. The people that are in this from medical kit testing to training, system delivery and crew displays, every aspect is being looked into and worked on right now. And Watson, Morgan highlighted. While the world is captivated by spectacular tests and giant rockets being launched, her team is working closely with SpaceX to address all mission unique milestones. Now this is the Blue Origin
part, the Jeff Bezos part. And while SpaceX has been in the spotlight, Blue Origin is also playing a role in the HLS program. Headed by a national team that includes industry giants like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and others, Blue Origin is developing the Blue Moon Mark
Two Lander, their MK2. This Lander promises to be a game changer, capable of transporting up to 30 metric tons in One Direction. Now Watson, Morgan, and our team are dividing their attention and resources equally between SpaceX and Blue Origin. It's always good to have a backup, to have two different systems in case something fails, and they're recognizing the unique challenges and technologies each company brings to the table.
Now Blue Origin is working with hydrogen as fuel, unlike Spacex's methane, but both need to solve similar engineering challenges like propellant transfer. Spacex's Dragon spacecraft has already been a successful venture for the company and docking many times with the International Space Station and taking numerous humans into space. Now the insights gained from Dragon's operations are now being applied to Starship.
Both SpaceX and Watson Morgan appreciate the overlap in tech in lessons that can be shared between the two spacecraft. And Watson Morgan draws parallels between the HLS program and the Commercial Crew Program or the CCP.
She noted that the HLS program also borrows ideas of having unfettered access to the contractors and providers base data to streamline decision making and enhance efficiency, and this approach allows her and her team to resolve issues much faster, a critical factor in keeping the program on schedule. Now as we look ahead to 2024 though, the propellant transfer demonstration is going to be a huge step forward that could significantly affect the trajectory of future missions.
Successfully demonstrating this tech not only gets us closer to the moon, but also opens doors for future solar system exploration. Doctor Lisa Watson Morgan is particularly focused on this test as it'll lay the foundation for subsequent missions ensuring that both SpaceX and Blue Origins technology can effectively operate in lunar conditions. And beyond propellant transfers, Watson Morgan and her team are also deeply invested in the
human factors of these missions. Training astronauts to adapt to the conditions in a lunar Lander is not a simple task, and simulations are being run to prepare them for every conceivable scenario. Now mock Landers are being used to fine tune not just the astronauts actions, but also the technology that will be on board that they'll be using to pilot this craft to the moon. What's also interesting is the pace at which these developments are happening.
With the target of 2024 for Artemis 2, there's little room to delay. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are involved in rigorous testing, from propellant storage to flammability tests within crew cabins to make sure everything
is set for these lunar missions. And these tests are becoming increasingly complex, involving not just individual components but integrated systems, a crucial step forward for the actual flights and Watson. Morgan holds weekly meetings with Blue Origin and more frequent ones if necessary, to ensure that the program stays on track. And these check insurance are more than just status updates.
They're collaborative sessions of a team where problems are identified, solutions proposed, and action items are assigned and delivered. And with the countdown to 2024 right around the corner, there's a sense of urgency, but also a collective determination to make history. Once again, thank you for joining me on this episode of the Elon Musk podcast today. Don't forget to hit the subscribe or the follow button on your preferred podcast platform. It's free, takes just a moment,
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