''McCandless Lunar Lander'', also known as the ''McCandless Lunar Delivery Service'', is a concept for a robotic lunar lander proposed as one of the commercial cargo vehicles for NASA's

Commercial Lunar Payload Services Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to hire companies to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon. Most landing sites are near the lunar south pole where they will scout for lunar resources, test in situ resource ...

(CLPS). The lander was proposed to NASA for funding by the aerospace company

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

, and it is based on the successful Mars landers ''Phoenix'' and ''

InSight Insight is the understanding of a specific causality, cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of se ...

''.

Overview

On 29 November 2018, NASA announced the first nine companies, including Lockheed Martin, that are allowed to bid on contracts by the

(CLPS). These contracts are indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts with a combined maximum contract value of $2.6 billion during the next 10 years. The contracted landers will transport commercial payloads focused on exploration,

in situ resource utilization In space exploration, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) is the practice of collection, processing, storing and use of materials found or manufactured on other astronomical objects (the Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc.) that replace materials th ...

(ISRU), and lunar science. The ''McCandless'' lander is named in honor of the late astronaut and former Lockheed Martin employee

Bruce McCandless II Bruce McCandless II (born Byron Willis McCandless; June 8, 1937 – December 21, 2017) was an American Navy officer and aviator, electrical engineer, and NASA astronaut. In 1984, during the first of his two Space Shuttle missions, he comple ...

, who in 1984 performed the first free-flying spacewalk without a lifeline to the orbiting Space Shuttle, using a jetpack built by the company.Next moon lander could be made in Colorado
Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press; Published by ''The Denver post''. November 30, 2018.

Spacecraft

The ''McCandless'' lander design is based on the successful ''Phoenix'' and ''

'' Mars landers, designed and built by Lockheed Martin for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

.Lockheed Martin Selected for NASA's Commercial Lunar Lander Payload Services Contract
''Yahoo Finance''. November 29, 2018. The lander is being proposed to the new Commercial Lunar Payload Services program (CLPS) to deliver to the lunar surface up to of usable payload, including stationary scientific instruments, small deployable rovers,

ISRU In space exploration, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) is the practice of collection, processing, storing and use of materials found or manufactured on other astronomical objects (the Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc.) that replace materials th ...

experiments, or even sample-return vehicles. The lander's system incorporates on-board radars and a set of rocket thrusters for deceleration and soft-landing. It will not need the

aeroshell An aeroshell is a rigid heat-shielded shell that helps decelerate and protects a spacecraft vehicle from pressure, heat, and possible debris created by drag during atmospheric entry. Its main components consist of a heat shield (the forebody) an ...

and

heat shield In engineering, a heat shield is a component designed to protect an object or a human operator from being burnt or overheated by dissipating, reflecting, and/or absorbing heat. The term is most often used in reference to exhaust heat management a ...

, as the Moon has no atmosphere. The lander is presently designed to operate for one lunar day (14 Earth days), but upgrades for enduring the lunar nights can be considered depending on mission requirements.

References

{{Moon spacecraft Proposed spacecraft Missions to the Moon Commercial Lunar Payload Services Mining in space Lockheed Martin