NASA updates lander plans for Moon landings, finally solves long-festering Orion issue

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During a lengthy news conference on Friday, NASA provided a detailed overview of how it plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface as soon as 2028 as part of its Artemis Program. Although much of the information behind these plans has been previously reported at Ars Technica and elsewhere, this marked the first time NASA has laid them out in detail and acknowledged some substantial changes in the architecture.

在周五举行的一场冗长的新闻发布会上，美国国家航空航天局（NASA）详细概述了其作为“阿尔忒弥斯计划”（Artemis Program）的一部分，计划最早于2028年将宇航员送回月球表面的方案。尽管这些计划背后的许多信息此前已在Ars Technica及其他媒体上有所报道，但这是NASA首次详细阐述这些内容，并承认了架构上的一些重大调整。

Most notably, for SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, the revised plan calls for the Orion spacecraft to dock with the Starship lunar lander in high-Earth orbit before transiting to the Moon. And for Blue Origin, the mission architecture includes four launches of the New Glenn rocket, but no spacecraft-to-spacecraft refuelings. Additionally, the Blue Origin plans allows for the possibility of its Blue Moon lander rendezvousing with Orion in low-Lunar orbit.

最值得注意的是，针对SpaceX的“星舰”（Starship）飞行器，修订后的计划要求“猎户座”（Orion）飞船在前往月球之前，先在高地球轨道与“星舰”月球着陆器进行对接。对于蓝色起源公司（Blue Origin），其任务架构包括四次“新格伦”（New Glenn）火箭发射，但无需进行航天器间的燃料补给。此外，蓝色起源的计划还允许其“蓝月”（Blue Moon）着陆器在低月球轨道与“猎户座”飞船进行交会对接的可能性。

During the presentation on Friday, NASA officials said they continue to anticipate launching the Artemis III mission—a demonstration involving docking with both Blue Moon and Starship near Earth—by “summer” 2027. And they are still tracking toward a 2028 launch of Artemis IV, which would involve an actual landing on the lunar surface.

在周五的演示中，NASA官员表示，他们仍预计在2027年“夏季”发射“阿尔忒弥斯3号”任务，这是一项涉及在地球附近与“蓝月”和“星舰”进行对接的演示任务。同时，他们仍在按计划推进2028年发射“阿尔忒弥斯4号”，该任务将涉及真正的月球表面着陆。

“This is an achievable path we are on right now,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said. “We have the mandate, we have the resources, and the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that’s what we intend to do.” It is commendable that Isaacman and his leadership have taken a hard look every element of the Artemis Program and sought to make changes where they can help the lunar lander companies execute and accelerate their plans. But can they hold to those dates?

“我们目前所走的这条道路是可行的，”NASA局长贾里德·艾萨克曼（Jared Isaacman）表示。“我们拥有授权、资源以及利益相关者的支持来执行任务，这就是我们打算做的事情。”艾萨克曼及其领导团队认真审视了“阿尔忒弥斯计划”的每一个环节，并寻求在能够帮助月球着陆器公司执行和加速其计划的地方做出改变，这一点值得称赞。但他们能坚守这些日期吗？

The SpaceX plan: The biggest ask SpaceX engineers had in meetings with NASA in early 2026 was removing the requirement to dock with Orion in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. This required more energy and had other difficulties associated with it. When NASA canceled the Lunar Gateway earlier this year, it solved this problem for SpaceX. Now SpaceX will fuel a Starship lunar lander in low-Earth orbit before docking with Orion in high-Earth orbit. The crew will fly to the Moon inside Orion before two of four astronauts transfer into Starship for a landing on the Moon.

SpaceX计划：SpaceX工程师在2026年初与NASA的会议中提出的最大要求，是取消在月球近直线晕轨道（NRHO）与“猎户座”对接的要求。这需要消耗更多能量，并伴随其他困难。当NASA在今年早些时候取消“月球门户”（Lunar Gateway）项目时，这个问题便迎刃而解。现在，SpaceX将在低地球轨道为“星舰”月球着陆器加注燃料，然后再在高地球轨道与“猎户座”对接。机组人员将乘坐“猎户座”飞往月球，随后四名宇航员中的两人将转移至“星舰”进行月球着陆。

A key question surrounding SpaceX’s architecture is the number of refuelings required to top off a Starship for a lunar mission. On Thursday a NASA Safety Panel reported that the current number of tanker launches is “about 22.” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that estimate was wrong, and that the actual number will be six to eight. During a question-and-answer session on Friday afternoon, NASA officials declined to put a precise number on the refueling launches required.

围绕SpaceX架构的一个关键问题是，为月球任务加满“星舰”所需的燃料补给次数。周四，一个NASA安全小组报告称，目前的加油船发射次数“约为22次”。SpaceX创始人埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）表示该估计有误，实际次数应为6到8次。在周五下午的问答环节中，NASA官员拒绝给出所需的燃料补给发射的具体数字。

A lot of uncertainty remains in the lift capacity of Starship, as well as in how much cryogenic methane and liquid oxygen will boil off in orbit and how efficient the process of transferring propellants from one ship to another will be. However, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said this of the estimate of 6 to 8 launches proffered by Musk: it was possible, but represented the “ultimate potential end state” of Starship.

“星舰”的运载能力，以及在轨道上会有多少低温甲烷和液氧蒸发，以及将推进剂从一艘飞船转移到另一艘飞船的过程效率如何，这些都存在很大的不确定性。然而，NASA局长贾里德·艾萨克曼在谈到马斯克提出的6到8次发射的估计时表示：这是可能的，但代表了“星舰”的“最终潜在终极状态”。

The Blue Origin plan: In response to NASA’s call for a faster approach to reaching the Moon, Blue Origin has modified its plans such that it would no longer require refueling between vehicles for initial missions. Under the concept of operations released Friday, a New Glenn rocket would launch three “transfer stages” to low-Earth orbit. These transfer stages are modeled after the Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, but have some significant modifications. Then New Glenn would launch the Blue Moon Mark 2 lander into orbit, where it would rendezvous with the transfer stages that will push the stack to the Moon.

蓝色起源计划：为了响应NASA加快登月步伐的号召，蓝色起源修改了其计划，使得初始任务不再需要在飞行器之间进行燃料补给。根据周五发布的操作概念，一枚“新格伦”火箭将向低地球轨道发射三个“转移级”。这些转移级以“蓝月”Mark 1着陆器为蓝本，但进行了一些重大修改。随后，“新格伦”火箭会将“蓝月”Mark 2着陆器发射入轨，在那里它将与推动整个组合体前往月球的转移级进行交会。

The chart shared by NASA showed Orion docking with the Blue Moon lander in an elliptical lunar orbit, approximately 8,500 km above the Moon’s surface. However NASA is also working to have the option of docking with Orion in low-Lunar orbit. According to Jeremy Parsons, the manager of the Artemis Program for NASA, such an orbit a few hundred km above the Moon would significantly reduce the propellant needed by Blue Moon to bring astronauts down to the lunar surface and back up.

NASA分享的图表显示，“猎户座”在距离月球表面约8500公里的椭圆月球轨道上与“蓝月”着陆器对接。然而，NASA也在努力争取在低月球轨道与“猎户座”对接的选项。据NASA“阿尔忒弥斯计划”经理杰里米·帕森斯（Jeremy Parsons）称，在月球上方几百公里的轨道上进行对接，将显著减少“蓝月”将宇航员送往月球表面并返回所需的推进剂。

Extended Centaur: As part of this, NASA announced Friday that it is working with United Launch Alliance to develop an “extended” version of the Centaur V upper stage. In concert with the core stage of the Space Launch System, this upper stage would allow Orion to reach low-lunar orbit. This is a big deal. It has long been a point of embarrassment for NASA that Orion, with its low-performing Service Module, does not have the delta-V capability to launch from Earth, reach low-lunar orbit, and return to Earth for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

扩展型半人马座（Centaur）：作为该计划的一部分，NASA周五宣布正与联合发射联盟（ULA）合作开发“半人马座”V级上面级的“扩展”版本。配合太空发射系统（SLS）的核心级，该上面级将使“猎户座”能够到达低月球轨道。这是一项重大进展。长期以来，由于“猎户座”的服务舱性能较低，无法具备从地球发射、到达低月球轨道并返回地球在太平洋溅落的Delta-V（速度增量）能力，这一直是NASA的尴尬之处。