A few days ago, Jim Bridenstine announced that the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will be the site the Artemis Moon Lander will be developed. The Artemis program is supposed to launch the first woman and the next man to the moon in 2024.
Since its establishment, the Marshall Space Flight Center has been known as the place NASA has built their rockets, the team of researchers being specialized in propulsion systems. This is the reason NASA’s Administrator decided to select this center as landing and lifting off safely from the Moon’s surface is and will be crucial. On top of that, MSFC is already building the Space Launch System for the Artemis program.
Bridenstine’s decision was met with delight by most people, but Texas representatives were dissatisfied with the decision as they wanted the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Huston to be the one to build the Artemis Moon Lander.
NASA to Build Its Artemis Moon Lander At Marshall Space Flight Center
The Johnson Space Center is already the one that leads NASA’s Artemis program. Bridenstine’s reply was that the Marshall Space Flight Center is the best candidate given their background with rockets’ propulsion systems.
A good thing about this is that the Artemis program is going to create 360 new jobs. Among these 360 new jobs, 140 are going to be created for the MSFC, while the other 220 to the other NASA centers all around the country.
It is worth mentioning that Lisa Watson-Morgan, former Deputy Engineering Director of MSFC, will be the one that will be in charge of the project. Also, NASA will collaborate with different private companies that specialize in aerospace manufacturer and space transportation to help built the greatest lander and to achieve the 2024 target. Among these, the company Maxar Technologies was selected to manufacture the propulsion module for NASA’s space station near the moon named Lunar Gateway.
