Space obsession, queen confessions.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says the giant SLS rocket won’t leave the pad for Artemis III until Blue Origin’s Moon lander is already in orbit and checked out. Here’s how the three-rocket mission is lined up, why the lander is the big schedule question, and why NASA calls this its Apollo 9.
The BE-7 is Blue Origin’s 10,000 lbf hydrogen engine for the Blue Moon landers. Here is how a dual expander cycle works, why hydrogen on the Moon is a bold bet, what the record 2,500-second test does and doesn’t prove, and where the engine has yet to fly.
Blue Origin has two lunar landers in the works: the cargo-carrying Mark 1 and the crewed Mark 2. Here’s what each one does, how NASA’s new Artemis plan changes things, how it differs from SpaceX’s Starship, and what could slip.