Blue Origin pulls sheets off cargo lunar lander prototype

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has unveiled a mockup of the cargo version of its Blue Moon lunar lander ahead of a crewed version intended for NASA's Artemis program. Dubbed "Pathfinder," the lander is intended to be a demonstration mission, and future versions will be available to payload customers. Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) is meant …

[spireite]

Never happen

SpaceX are way ahead of the BO curve

[Anonymous Coward]

BO Curve?

We just call them sweat stains.

[elsergiovolador]

Strategy

Clearly Bezos is not thinking straight.

What he should have done:

- Create barely working prototype of the lunar lander

- List it on Amazon marketplace

- Make it the most popular item in lunar lander category

- Sell the prototypes to Chinese customers

- Wait for lunar lander clones to appear in few months' time at fraction of the price

- Buy clone lunar landers, that probably are going to work unlike the original

[phuzz]

Re: Strategy

The normal Amazon method is to let someone else create the product, then if it sells well (they have all the sales data, and know everything else about the customer's buying habits), copy it and sell it for just less than the original vendor, through one of their 'in house brands' (front companies?), whilst also charging the original vendor more and more and de-listing them in searches.

Both Amazon, and the original vendor were already using Chinese manufacturing.

[elsergiovolador]

Re: Strategy

If only CMA knew about this, so they wouldn't be going on wild goose chases and make fool of the UK...

Is there a way to tell them?

(rhetorical question)

[m4r35n357]

Wondering what it looks like?

the link is "said" !!!!!!

Nicely hidden, Reg.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Wondering what it looks like?

Yeah, but some of us were so aghast at "Our Blue Moon landers are architected for that future day blah blah" that we'd spluttered tea into our keyboards and started to write a letter of protest.

I wonder how the engineers who actually designed the lander feel, having been demeaned to mere architects?

[TVU]

"Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has unveiled a mockup of the cargo version of its Blue Moon lunar lander ahead of a crewed version intended for NASA's Artemis program"

^ That just isn't good enough. What they should be doing by now is delivering actual test prototypes. For example, the much hyped New Glenn heavy-lift orbital launch vehicle still has yet to make its first flight.

[gecho]

If many of these landers stay on the lunar surface or leave parts behind like the Apollo ones, NASA might need to think about sending a bulldozer to the Moon to start pushing the junk into a large crater.

[Throatwarbler Mangrove]

Blue Origin is way ahead of you with an innovative folding clamshell design to seal in the junk. It's named, you guessed it, Blue Oyster.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like a cult to me. Does it have a theme song? "Don't fear the reaper" would seem appropriate.

[IvyKing]

"Workshop of the telescopes", "Astronomy", "Come and take me away" also come to mind.

Given the delays in the Blue Origin launch vehicle, perhaps "Deadline" may be most appropriate.

[AIBailey]

Less of a cult, more of a bar.

And yes, it has a theme... Blue Oyster Bar

[spireite]

Blue Oyster?

That sounds like one of those places you'd find sandy clams.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Bulldozer

Might be better to build them so they can easily be made into something useful. Probably has tanks that could be reused to store nice things like air and water. And maybe convert some to habit, lab or manufacturing modules.

[Pete 2]

Everything works on the drawing board

> Dubbed "Pathfinder

Hoping to piggyback on the TV series For all mankind and hoping it's success will rub off on this venture.

Bezos' history on delivering projects to orbit fills nobody with hope. But presumably as long as this project sees enough NASA bungs, it will have achieved its objective.

[Fr. Ted Crilly]

umm

Architected? does that mean designed for a future purpose?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: umm

No, it means it's a pile of old rubbish been given a makeover with some fashionable cladding, bi-fold doors, and a mix of grey and green paint.

[iron]

Jeff's BO would be more successful sticking to Kerbal Space Program.

[AIBailey]

BO have to focus on the "easy" wins, like perhaps getting someting into orbit instead of just firing things upwards. Then they can think about shooting for the moon (literally)