Amazon’s Bezos and the Blue Moon Project

Amazon’s Bezos and Tesla’s Musk are the most interested in the space industry. Bezos is working on the Blue Origin Project, and both men are working as subcontractors for NASA and receiving significant government support.

Today, we’ll introduce Bezos’s Blue Origin Project. In a one-hour speech in May, Bezos explained that humans will one day be able to venture into the cosmos (space), stating that this had been his dream since childhood. He revealed that through the Blue Moon Project, he is developing a spacecraft called “Blue Moon” to transport astronauts between the Moon and Earth. By actively participating in the Trump administration’s Moon project, he aimed to meet the White House’s 2024 deadline. However, it is now widely believed that the 2024 deadline for sending people to the Moon is unrealistic. Instead, experts are looking toward 2028.

His deep interest in and involvement with the space industry stems from his long-term vision. He believes that someday, millions of people will live and work in space. He explains that this is because Earth’s resources are limited, while the population is growing, and energy demand will continue to rise. Therefore, he argues that we must venture into space to secure the necessary resources there. He also says that thousands of people will live together in an environment similar to Earth’s—a place even more pleasant than Earth, free from rain, wind, and earthquakes.

It reminds me of scenes from comics or movies, where people live inside a dome somewhere in space. As he says, the day will come when this becomes reality, not just something from comics or movies. It’s not that close, but I wonder if it might be possible by the time my children reach my age.

But it’s a bit disheartening. A comfortable glass dome created by humans, free of rain, wind, and earthquakes? (I think a dome would definitely be necessary because of the oxygen.) All that’s left on Earth because of humans is ruin, trash, and sick, dying plants and animals… Yet humans are heading into space in search of a comfortable place? While the space industry is innovative, when I think of our ailing Earth and nature, Bezos’s presentation of the project doesn’t exactly fill me with joy.

*Since there was almost no mention of the Blue Moon Project during his one-hour presentation, I couldn’t go into detail about it here.

09/07/2019 by Dr. Lan Joo