Guests: John Batchelor, George Dvorsky, Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  Competition for lunar human landers.  

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John Batchelor and I welcomed George Dvorsky of GIZMODO to discuss the upcoming competition for human landers for Mars for Artemis.  George has a good article on this at www.gizmodo.com.au/2022/03/spacex-will-have-competition-on-the-moon-as-nasa-seeks-a-second-lunar-lander.  During our one segment ten minute discussion, we talked about NASA wanting more human lander bids than just the SpaceX bid, the interest in a possible new bid by Blue Origin and the original bidders but also others.  Funding was discussed in that NASA's budget has been proposed to with a $7.5 billion increase with a $1.5 billion share going to landers. This new amount would be divided up between new bidders.  Also discussed was how NASA would require tight standardization given the different landers plus how NASA sees landing on the Moon as a stepping stone for Mars.  Before the segment ended, we talked about the NASA timeline for Mars and the SpaceX timeline for Mars and why the difference.  George put forth his opinion on the viability of the SpaceX Mars timeline.

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You can email Mr. Batchelor or George through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. George can be reached through the GIZMODO sight.