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One of the components of NASA’s mission to the moon is a lunar Gateway that would orbit the moon. Astronauts would use a spacecra to reach the Gateway and use the Gateway to go to and from the moon’s surface or on other deep-space missions, said Altemus, who was the initial architect of the NASA project. NASA wants to create a permanent space colony to allow astronauts to live and work on the moon’s surface. What they learn could be used to y to Mars, which takes months, not mere days, to reach, Altemus said. Astronauts might even use the moon as a launch surface, considering its lower gravity requires less fuel to launch, Anderson said. The Johnson Space Center did not return a request for comment before press time. ECONOMIC BOON The eects of NASA’s mission to the moon and beyond will be felt on Earth, particularly in the Bay Area, business owner Norman Frede said. Frede, who has owned Norman Frede Chevrolet in Clear Lake since , said before Apollo , the Bay Area had only a few bars and motels along NASA Parkway. Business grew throughout the s during the Apollo missions, and a similar insurgence could happen as NASA goes back to the moon, he said. “It certainly would be pos-
load a year until the -year contract expires, he said. “It’s really interesting to be in Hous- ton, Texas, as a lander company on the th anniversary of Apollo ,” Altemus said. “That’s history right there. You couldn’t write a better script.” Other Bay Area-based aerospace com- panies will be involved in NASA’s mis- sion as well. The Boeing Company, which has a Houston presence, helps operate the International Space Station and is work- ing on the Commercial Crew Develop- ment program that will allow commer- cial companies to y crews to the ISS. Later this year, Boeing will launch a crewed test ight of its Starliner space- cra, which could possibly be the rst time astronauts will launch from U.S. soil since the Space Shuttle program ended in , said Peter McGrath, Boe- ing’s director of marketing for space exploration. Boeing is also developing the Space Launch System, the only existing rocket capable of getting past low Earth orbit and to the moon, McGrath said. Such projects will allow NASA to expedite the bigger projects that will eventually get humans back to the moon and beyond, a mission many Bay Area residents are excited about, Mitch- ell said. Bay Area resident Clayton Anderson is a retired astronaut who helped build and spent months aboard the ISS. He said going back to the moon is the right move for NASA. “Mars is the glory destination. Returning to the moon, I think, is a key step in being able to get humans to Mars,” Anderson said. “We have so much to learn before we can send people to Mars success- fully.”
itive, but how positive, I don’t know,” Frede said. IntuitiveMachines, which employs people, plans to hire more this year as it develops its lunar lander. Many who work at Intuitive Machines are already accomplished in the aerospace indus- try, and the company’s growth will be a natural extension, Altemus said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity for space industry-related jobs,” he said. “Other industries bene t from having space industry jobs here.” McGrath agreed, noting other Bay Area aerospace companies and contrac- tors could see an inux of work to sup- plement NASA. “There’s a lot of growth opportunities as we look at going back to the moon,” he said. The Johnson Space Center will also see a boost. The center will not create hundreds of jobs overnight, but its num- ber of employees will slowly climb up, Mitchell said. The space center is the cornerstone of Bay Area’s economy. It employs , civil servants and , contrac- tors, all of whom live in about a -mile radius. The
be the link connecting Earth to those who next walk on the moon, said Bob Mitchell, the president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership. The Johnson Space Center and pri- vate companies alike will hire more personnel over the next several years in preparation for NASA’s most ambitious mission yet. As a result, o cials said they expect a slow but steady boost to the Bay Area’s economy. “What used to be science ction is not science ction today,” Mitchell said. ”It’s all extremely exciting. It’s going to be very bene cial to our community.” MOON TOMARS Intuitive Machines is one of about aerospace companies in the Bay Area. The -year-old business provides auton- omous systems for manufacturing and other industries, including spaceight. When NASA unveiled its plans to revisit the moon, three companies, including Intuitive Machines in May, won contracts to help, making the small Bay Area business likely to be one of the rst private companies to land a space- cra on the lunar surface, President Steve Altemus said. “We’re like the lead-o batter for NASA’s mission to the moon,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be that company.” Intuitive Machines has a . mil- lion contract to deliver several payloads, or science experiments, to the moon. The rst will be the company’s Nova-C lunar lander, which is being built and tested at the Houston Spaceport and is scheduled to launch to the moon on July , , to collect data for NASA’s mis- sion, Altemus said. Advancements and investments in global technology from the s in so- ware coding, analytics processing and more make it possible for small compa- nies such as Intuitive Machines to go to the moon today, Altemus said. “It’s really a new modern twist on Apollo to leverage the technology base that didn’t exist before … that nowwe can apply,” Altemus said. The Nova-C’s engine has already been tested at the Houston Spaceport. Aer the Nova-C mission, Intuitive Machines will launch to the moon one pay-
N OVA - C LUNAR LANDER
Bay Area-based company Intuitive Machines will send its No- va-C lunar lander to the moon in two years, ahead of NASA. The lander will be used to study how to precisely land on the lunar surface. It will also gather data, such as radio frequen- cies, from the moon.
Nova-C will orbit Earth and use its gravity and about 400 seconds of thrust to slingshot toward the moon.
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In July 2021, a SpaceX rocket will launch with Nova-C onboard. Once in orbit, the rocket will release Nova-C.
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SOURCES: NASA, ISS U.S. NATIONAL LABORATORY, INTUITIVEMACHINES/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER PHOTOS COURTESY NASA
G I A N T L E A P S FOR MANKIND April 12, 1981: The Space
2010: The Commercial Crew Development programbegins with the goal of private companies flying crews to the ISS.
July20, 1969: Apollo 11 lands, andmanwalks on themoon for the first time.
Nov. 20, 1998: The first segment of the ISS launches into space.
Shuttle programbegins, even- tually flying astronauts to the International Space Station.
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