Washington - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has unveiled a mock-up
of his space company Blue Origin's design for a Moon lander named
"Blue Moon."
"This is an incredible vehicle, and it's going to the Moon," Bezos
said after unveiling the mock-up at the Washington, DC Convention
Center on Thursday, technology portal The Verge reported.
Members of the press and space industry were in attendance to watch
the reveal. The event opened with a video from the original Apollo 11
mission, which landed the first astronauts on the surface of the
Moon. "If that does not inspire you, you are at the wrong event,"
Bezos said.
Bezos said Blue Origin has been working on the design for the lander
for the last three years.
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A post shared by Jeff Bezos(@jeffbezos) on May 9, 2019 at 4:48pm PDT
The lander will be capable of autonomously navigating in space and
can carry up to four large rovers simultaneously, The Verge
quoted Bezos as saying.
"Today, our founder shared our vision to go to space to benefit
Earth," the Blue Origin firm tweeted. "We must return to the Moon -
this time to stay. We're ready to support @NASA in getting there by
2024 with #bluemoon."
Today, our founder shared our vision to go to space to benefit Earth. We must return to the Moon—this time to stay. We’re ready to support @NASA in getting there by 2024 with #bluemoon. pic.twitter.com/UqQyMa9Zcn
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) May 9, 2019
Bezos himself tweeted: "Blue Origin is building the infrastructure
needed to unleash the next generation of dreamers. I met these young
people today, and the future is in great hands."
His space exploration company is "the most important thing I'm
doing," Bezos said in April last year upon receiving a business
innovation award from German publishing house Axel Springer.