NASA's Ambitious Monthly Moon Landings: Overcoming Hurdles to Achieve a Lunar Cadence

Introduction: NASA's Bold Lunar Ambition

NASA has set an extraordinary goal: to land on the Moon as many as 21 times within the next two and a half years. This would mean approximately one landing per month, a pace far exceeding any previous lunar exploration tempo. However, achieving this cadence will require fundamental changes in how the agency acquires lunar landers, resolves persistent technical issues, and manages its industrial partnerships.

NASA's Ambitious Monthly Moon Landings: Overcoming Hurdles to Achieve a Lunar Cadence — Source: arstechnica.com

The Challenge: Frequent Landings Require a New Approach

Historically, lunar landings have been rare, complex, and costly. To shift to monthly operations, NASA must overhaul its procurement strategies and address a troubling track record: three of the last four U.S. landing attempts have ended in failure. These setbacks highlight the need for more rigorous testing, better risk management, and improved oversight.

Learning from Past Failures

The recent failures include the Peregrine lander, which suffered a propulsion anomaly shortly after launch, and the Odysseus lander, which experienced a navigation error leading to a hard landing. These incidents underscore the difficulty of landing on the Moon and the importance of reliable hardware and software. NASA must apply lessons from these missions to future endeavors.

Overhauling Lunar Lander Procurement

Currently, NASA uses a mix of fixed-price contracts and public-private partnerships. But the rapid pace of 21 landings demands a more streamlined process. The agency may need to adopt new contracting models that incentivize speed and reliability, while also allowing for multiple vendors to compete and deliver landers faster.

Strengthening the Industrial Base and Supply Chain

A critical component of this effort is the improvement of NASA's industrial base. Many suppliers have struggled to deliver components on time, causing delays. Better oversight and supply chain management will be essential to ensure that landers, payloads, and support systems are available when needed. NASA must work closely with industry to identify bottlenecks and invest in redundancy.

Separate Programs for Crew and Cargo

It is important to distinguish between two distinct sets of landers: those for crew and those for cargo/robotic missions. The crew landers are managed under NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) program, which has awarded contracts to SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop human-rated vehicles for the Artemis program. These will ferry astronauts to and from the lunar surface.

The Human Landing System (HLS) Contracts

SpaceX's Starship and Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander are being designed to carry crews for extended stays. These are large, complex vehicles that require significant development and testing. Their success is central to NASA's long-term lunar plans.

Robotic and Cargo Precursors

Alongside crewed missions, dozens of robotic and cargo landings will deliver payloads to the Moon. These missions will scout potential sites for a future base, demonstrate technologies for larger vehicles, mining, and resource utilization, and test operations during the two-week-long lunar night. Such precursor missions are vital for sustainable exploration.

Conclusion: The Path to a Sustainable Lunar Presence

NASA's goal of landing on the Moon every month is ambitious but achievable with the right changes. By overhauling procurement, learning from failures, and strengthening the industrial base, the agency can build a reliable lunar transportation system. The combination of crew and cargo landers will pave the way for a permanent human presence on the Moon, enabling science, exploration, and eventual missions to Mars.

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