NASA's Space Launch System is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle by which NASA—under the auspices of the agency’s Artemis program—intends to return human beings to the surface of Earth’s moon. As of May 2023, the SLS program is north of $6-billion over-budget and more than six-years behind schedule—so states a scathing new audit undertaken by NASA’s Inspector General.
Vx4 Development Continues, With Bumps Along the Way
Vertical Aerospace has pushed its certification timetable back towards the end of 2026 after a confluence of factors began to induce drag on operations. The plan now has been revised to obtain certification in Vertical’s home nation, getting the UK Civil Aviation Authority's signoff on the Vx4. Unlike many of their competitors, Vertical is breaking new ground, with portions of the nascent eVTOL scene being ironed out with regulators as they go along.
The American astronauts to venture to the moon’s surface during NASA’s planned 2029 Artemis V mission will do so aboard a lunar-lander designed and built by Blue Origin—the Auburn, Washington-based space technology concern founded by Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander remains under development and it, or an evolution thereof, will likely be the vehicle by which the Artemis V moonwalkers are conveyed to and from the lunar surface.
John S. Langford and Mark Drela Recognized for Work on Powered Flight
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has recognized the work of two key Electra principals with some of their highest honors. Langford and Drela have worked together for more than 45 years, initially partnering up for projects surrounding powered flight at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They cycled through the Chrysalis, Monarch, and Daedalus aircraft projects before moving on to other work.
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