'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Jeff Bezos wants to spot NASA up to US$2 billion in a bid to reignite the battle for space between his rocket company Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The world's richest man appealed to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an open letter Monday, offering to cover billions of dollars in the U.S. space agency's costs. In doing so, Bezos hopes Blue Origin can be reconsidered for a contract to build the vehicle that will land the next astronauts on the moon.
His unusual proposal comes a few months after NASA chose SpaceX over Blue Origin for a US$2.9 billion contract to build the vehicle.
The agency originally intended to have at least two private-sector companies compete to build the spacecraft that will ferry astronauts to the lunar surface for the Artemis moon landing missions — a project called the Human Landing System (HLS). But in April, NASA made the surprise announcement that it would move forward with SpaceX as the sole contractor for the project, citing costs as a primary reason.
Blue Origin openly pushed back against the decision. Now Bezos — fresh from his space flight last week — wants to make sure money does not come in the way.
"Blue Origin will bridge the HLS budgetary funding shortfall by waiving all payments in the current and next two government fiscal years up to US$2 billion to get the program back on track right now," he wrote.
"This offer is not a deferral, but is an outright and permanent waiver of those payments. This offer provides time for government appropriation actions to catch up. "
Bezos repeatedly emphasized the need for NASA to promote healthy competition as the agency works toward its return to the moon, suggesting that the government would regret not doing so.
"Without competition, a short time into the contract, NASA will find itself with limited options as it attempts to negotiate missed deadlines, design changes, and cost overruns," he wrote. "Without competition, NASA's short-term and long-term lunar ambitions will be delayed, will ultimately cost more, and won't serve the national interest."
NASA expects to land the first woman and the next man on moon's south pole in 2024 through its Artemis program. Humans last explored the lunar surface during the final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.
As it was vying for the contract, Blue Origin proposed working as a "National Team" for the HLS program alongside frequent government contractors such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin to design a lunar lander specifically to service the space station, called Gateway, that NASA plans to put in orbit around the moon. Alabama-based Dynetics, which has also protested NASA's decision to award the contract to SpaceX, came in with a similar proposal.
SpaceX, however, proposed using its Starship, a gargantuan spaceship and rocket system that is currently in the early stages of development in South Texas. SpaceX's primary goal for Starship is to take humans to Mars, but the company proposed using a modified version to service NASA's Artemis moon program.
Blue Origin, SpaceX and NASA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
-- Jackie Wattles contributed to this report.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.