Lockheed Martin Unveils Design For Reusable Lunar Landing Vehicle

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th October, 2018) The design of a reusable vehicle to transport astronauts from an orbiting space station to the surface of the moon has been unveiled at the International Astronomical Congress (IAC) in Germany, the aerospace company Lockheed Martin announced in a press release on Wednesday.

"In its initial configuration, the lander would accommodate a crew of four and 2,000 lbs. of cargo payload on the surface for up to two weeks before returning to the Gateway without refueling on the surface," the release said.

The crewed lunar lander is a single stage, fully reusable system that incorporates flight-proven technologies and systems from NASA's Orion spacecraft, the release said.

The lander resembles an elongated tube with a landing platform consisting of four legs, according to a photo accompanying the release.

US plans for deep space exploration call for a manned Lunar Gateway that would orbit the moon much like the International Space Station does.

The Orion spacecraft currently under construction is designed to carry astronauts from Earth to the Lunar Gateway and later to Mars.