Dragged to the Moon by Bezos’ Backhoe
Apparently, the Moon is back on the menu (again) with NASA reviving the previously-canceled VIPER rover mission like a zombie on government life support. And who better to drag it to the lunar surface than Blue Origin, the company still trying to finish what it started before Elon got bored of Mars and pivoted to chip implants and cage fights.
For the low, low price of $190 million, Blue Origin gets a second shot at pretending it’s a lunar logistics company. NASA handed out a CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) task order that technically isn’t a delivery contract, yet. It’s just a “maybe we’ll let you do this if you don’t blow up your lander first” kind of deal. The actual delivery is an option. Which, in federal speak, means, “We’re hedging.”
