NASA and SpaceX disagree about manual controls for lunar lander
“NASA’s tracking of SpaceX’s manual control risk indicates a worsening trend.”
TL;DR
- NASA's inspector general released a report on the management of Human Landing System (HLS) contracts with SpaceX and Blue Origin.
- The fixed-price contracting approach has been beneficial for NASA, controlling costs and utilizing the commercial space industry.
- There is a disagreement between NASA and SpaceX on whether Starship's proposed landing approach meets NASA's manual control requirement for astronauts.
- NASA's tracking of SpaceX's manual control risk shows a worsening trend.
- A similar dispute occurred with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, leading to a compromise on touchscreen manual controls.
- Starship's flight controls lack the proven heritage of the Dragon spacecraft's cargo version.
- A design for Blue Origin's manual control has not yet been provided.
- Uncrewed demonstration flights will have fewer requirements than human missions, lacking life support systems and airlocks.