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After recent tests, China appears likely to beat the United States back to the Moon (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/spaceflight@sh.itjust.works
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[–] 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

We've known for years that China would be back on the Moon before the US. When NASA decided to go with spacex solution of sending 20 rockets to get 2-3 people up there, that's when we knew China had already won.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    When NASA decided to go with spacex solution

    No, I think it was before that, when NASA decided to reuse Space Shuttle hardware to build an expendable launch vehicle with lower performance than the Saturn V, and no utility beyond the Artemis program.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    As opposed to Blue Origin's solution, which was to be assembled from three different spacecraft in orbit? Or the Dynetics solution, which was over its own mass budget?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago

    It's wild that the crazy overbuilt and overcomplicated SpaceX lander is the best option.

    The Blue Origin lander, which won the 2nd place consolation contract, changed to be more like Starship than their original 3-part proposal. They also rely on orbital refueling now.

    I wish Dynetics could have made their mass margins work. I liked the size and shape of that lander.

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