Lockheed Martin: Here's how the U.S. can put humans on the moon's surface by 2024

This illustration is Lockheed Martin's concept of a two-stage crewed lunar lander that NASA could use to go to the surface of the Moon. The accent module is derived from the Orion spacecraft to ensure quicker development. less This illustration is Lockheed Martin's concept of a two-stage crewed lunar lander that NASA could use to go to the surface of the Moon. The accent module is derived from the Orion spacecraft to ensure quicker ... more Photo: Credit: Lockheed Martin Photo: Credit: Lockheed Martin Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Lockheed Martin: Here's how the U.S. can put humans on the moon's surface by 2024 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Lockheed Martin officials say they have developed a viable way to put humans on the moon’s surface by 2024 — four years earlier than first planned amid growing efforts by other countries to gain a foothold on the lunar surface.

The Colorado-based company outlined a plan Wednesday that would tap key projects already in the works by NASA’s human space exploration experts, including the Orion spacecraft, a planned mini space station orbiting the moon and a new lunar lander.

The cost for the accelerated schedule is unknown, but officials said additional resources would be needed.

“This is not just a singular mission in 2024,” Tim Cichan, a Lockheed space exploration architect said at the 2019 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. “It’s the start of a long campaign.”

Lockheed Martin’s announcement comes just a few weeks after Vice President Mike Pence at the National Space Council’s March meeting in Alabama directed NASA to put humans on the moon four years ahead of the 2028 target date by “any means necessary.”

Though its still unclear what the NASA plan would look like or how much it would cost, NASA on Monday released a presolicitation notice calling on companies to develop human lunar landers.

In a statement Wednesday, NASA officials said they are happy that companies such as Lockheed are developing ideas to help the agency toward its goal of an accelerated human lunar landing.

"We will need everyone working together, government, industry leaders and international partners, united to meet this generational opportunity to land the next man and first woman on the moon," the statement read.

‘Start bending metal next year’

Lockheed officials say they have been studying the issue for some time, but on Wednesday they stressed that this was not an all-Lockheed plan, adding that it would take many companies and many nations to reach the goals. They are, instead, offering a potential solution.

That solution, which has not been approved by NASA, would use all the same elements as a 2028 moon landing. But they’d be developed at a faster pace.

“To have a lander ready in 2024, we need to start bending metal next year, with tooling in-house now,” said Rob Chambers, Lockheed’s director of Human Space Exploration Strategy.

Under Lockheed’s plan, NASA would continuing moving forward with the Orion spacecraft, which is supposed to launch on the back of the Space Launch System rocket in June 2020 without humans on board. Lockheed is the prime contractor on the Orion capsule.

Two years later in 2022, the first phase of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway — the proposed mini space station that would orbit the moon — would be sent into space on the back of a commercial rocket. This first phase would include a power and propulsion element.

That same year, the second Orion-SLS mission would launch with humans aboard. It would be “enhanced” with a docking system not originally planned that will allow it to connect to the Gateway elements already in the moon’s orbit.

The third Orion mission would launch in 2024, carrying a four-person crew to the lunar space station. From there, the crew would board a newly constructed lander and head for the moon’s South Pole — the location of choice for the Trump administration.

The lander would consist of two elements: one that could bring astronauts to the surface, and another that could bring them back to the station.

"We're going to need resources to make this happen and we're going to have to work differently than we have before," said Lisa Callahan, Lockheed's vice president of programs and general manager. "But I think it really is feasible, and we're super excited about it."

New budget proposal on the way

The main problem with the plan, however, is that the SLS rocket is significantly behind schedule. Originally expected to launch in 2017, NASA has now said that a June 2020 launch of the rocket is unlikely.

Space agency officials for a time even toyed with the idea of launching Orion on the back of a commercial rocket so that it could stay on schedule. That idea was quickly nixed, however.

Boeing was awarded a contract in 2012 to build two Space Launch System cores for NASA, one for the first, uncrewed Orion flight and one for the flight that would carry Americans around the moon. So far, the rocket has cost NASA about $12 billion.

The SLS’s problems did not come up in Lockheed’s prepared remarks, but Chambers said the company will start working on the third Orion spacecraft this fall so that it can be ready for launch by August 2023. Work on a lander would need to begin early next year to be ready for launch in 2024, he added.

The cost is still unclear. Even NASA is unsure how much money it would need to return to the moon four years early. The budget proposal submitted to Congress by the Trump administration actually slashed NASA’s funding by $500 million for the coming fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said that the agency is working on a new budget proposal — taking into account Pence’s new directive — for Congress. It’s not yet known when the new proposal will be ready.

Alex Stuckey writes about NASA and science for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.