Jeff Bezos

So it's a relatively simple architecture, just like the human landing system lander called the Mark II. Mark I is also fueled with liquid hydrogen, which is for high energy missions, like landing on the surface of the moon, the high specific impulse of hydrogen is a very big advantage. The disadvantage of hydrogen has always been that it's such a deep cryogen, it's not storable.

So it's a relatively simple architecture, just like the human landing system lander called the Mark II. Mark I is also fueled with liquid hydrogen, which is for high energy missions, like landing on the surface of the moon, the high specific impulse of hydrogen is a very big advantage. The disadvantage of hydrogen has always been that it's such a deep cryogen, it's not storable.

So it's a relatively simple architecture, just like the human landing system lander called the Mark II. Mark I is also fueled with liquid hydrogen, which is for high energy missions, like landing on the surface of the moon, the high specific impulse of hydrogen is a very big advantage. The disadvantage of hydrogen has always been that it's such a deep cryogen, it's not storable.

So it's constantly boiling off and you're losing propellant because it's boiling off. And so what we're doing as part of our lunar program is developing solar-powered cryocoolers that can actually make hydrogen a storable propellant for deep space. And that's a real game-changer. It's a game-changer for any high-energy mission, so to the moon, but to the outer planets, to Mars, everywhere.

So it's constantly boiling off and you're losing propellant because it's boiling off. And so what we're doing as part of our lunar program is developing solar-powered cryocoolers that can actually make hydrogen a storable propellant for deep space. And that's a real game-changer. It's a game-changer for any high-energy mission, so to the moon, but to the outer planets, to Mars, everywhere.

So it's constantly boiling off and you're losing propellant because it's boiling off. And so what we're doing as part of our lunar program is developing solar-powered cryocoolers that can actually make hydrogen a storable propellant for deep space. And that's a real game-changer. It's a game-changer for any high-energy mission, so to the moon, but to the outer planets, to Mars, everywhere.

Exactly. So the Mark I is expendable. The lunar lander we're developing for NASA, the Mark II lander, that's part of the Artemis program. They call it the sustaining lander program. So that lander is designed to be reusable. It can land on the surface of the moon in a single-stage configuration and then take off. If you look at the Apollo program, the lunar lander in Apollo was really two stages.

Exactly. So the Mark I is expendable. The lunar lander we're developing for NASA, the Mark II lander, that's part of the Artemis program. They call it the sustaining lander program. So that lander is designed to be reusable. It can land on the surface of the moon in a single-stage configuration and then take off. If you look at the Apollo program, the lunar lander in Apollo was really two stages.

Exactly. So the Mark I is expendable. The lunar lander we're developing for NASA, the Mark II lander, that's part of the Artemis program. They call it the sustaining lander program. So that lander is designed to be reusable. It can land on the surface of the moon in a single-stage configuration and then take off. If you look at the Apollo program, the lunar lander in Apollo was really two stages.

It would land on the surface and then it would leave the descent stage on the surface of the moon and only the ascent stage would go back up into lunar orbit where it would rendezvous with the command module. Here what we're doing is we have a single stage lunar lander that carries down enough propellant so that it can bring the whole thing back up so that it can be reused over and over.

It would land on the surface and then it would leave the descent stage on the surface of the moon and only the ascent stage would go back up into lunar orbit where it would rendezvous with the command module. Here what we're doing is we have a single stage lunar lander that carries down enough propellant so that it can bring the whole thing back up so that it can be reused over and over.

It would land on the surface and then it would leave the descent stage on the surface of the moon and only the ascent stage would go back up into lunar orbit where it would rendezvous with the command module. Here what we're doing is we have a single stage lunar lander that carries down enough propellant so that it can bring the whole thing back up so that it can be reused over and over.

And the point of doing that, of course, is to reduce cost so that you can make lunar missions more affordable over time. That's one of NASA's big objectives because this time, the whole point of Artemis is go back to the moon, but this time to stay. Mm-hmm. So back in the Apollo program, we went to the moon six times and then ended the program, and it really was too expensive to continue.

And the point of doing that, of course, is to reduce cost so that you can make lunar missions more affordable over time. That's one of NASA's big objectives because this time, the whole point of Artemis is go back to the moon, but this time to stay. Mm-hmm. So back in the Apollo program, we went to the moon six times and then ended the program, and it really was too expensive to continue.

And the point of doing that, of course, is to reduce cost so that you can make lunar missions more affordable over time. That's one of NASA's big objectives because this time, the whole point of Artemis is go back to the moon, but this time to stay. Mm-hmm. So back in the Apollo program, we went to the moon six times and then ended the program, and it really was too expensive to continue.

Well, one of the things we're working on is using lunar resources like lunar regolith to manufacture commodities and even solar cells on the surface of the moon. We've already built a solar cell that is completely made from lunar regolith stimulant. And this solar cell is only about 7% power efficient. So it's very inefficient compared to the more advanced solar cells that we make here on Earth.

Well, one of the things we're working on is using lunar resources like lunar regolith to manufacture commodities and even solar cells on the surface of the moon. We've already built a solar cell that is completely made from lunar regolith stimulant. And this solar cell is only about 7% power efficient. So it's very inefficient compared to the more advanced solar cells that we make here on Earth.

Well, one of the things we're working on is using lunar resources like lunar regolith to manufacture commodities and even solar cells on the surface of the moon. We've already built a solar cell that is completely made from lunar regolith stimulant. And this solar cell is only about 7% power efficient. So it's very inefficient compared to the more advanced solar cells that we make here on Earth.

But if you can figure out how to make a practical solar cell factory, that you can land on the surface of the moon, and then the raw material for those solar cells is simply lunar regolith, then you can just continue to churn out solar cells on the surface of the moon, have lots of power on the surface of the moon. That will make it easier for people to live on the moon.

But if you can figure out how to make a practical solar cell factory, that you can land on the surface of the moon, and then the raw material for those solar cells is simply lunar regolith, then you can just continue to churn out solar cells on the surface of the moon, have lots of power on the surface of the moon. That will make it easier for people to live on the moon.