Paul Brower

Mission director for various spacecraft, occasional sailor, engineer, author, explorer of the universe

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

This launch ended up overlapping with a planned vacation. Watching Artemis II launch while sitting aboard a sea ship that would have been unfathomable 150 years ago excites me for the future. Can't wait until people are gathering for dinner on cruise ships to the moon and Mars!

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

@astro_reid @NASA_Johnson Can't wait to fly this guy to the moon this year! Looks like you'll get there first so scout out a good spot for us, ok?

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

Getting closer every day...

[Dave Limp @davill]

This week we completed direct field acoustic testing on our Blue Moon MK1 lunar lander, a major flight‑qualification milestone. 

We surrounded the fully integrated lander with a ring of 34‑ft speaker towers to generate a near‑diffuse acoustic field, matching the New Glenn payload fairing environment at over 138 decibels overall sound pressure level. MK1 ran in a flight-like configuration: tanks pressurized with helium and nitrogen, batteries powering the vehicle, with all critical avionics and guidance systems operating. 

43 triaxial accelerometers measured response during a two‑minute exposure at protoqualification levels. Because the lander's vibration environment is driven by acoustic loads, this test replaces traditional shaker-based vibration testing and more accurately represents ascent conditions. 

Next stop: @NASA_Johnson for thermal vacuum chamber testing.

[Jeff Bezos @JeffBezos]

The Blue Moon MK1 flight vehicle that will land near Shackleton crater. We’ll soon be doing fully integrated checkout tests. At over 26 feet tall (8 meters), it’s smaller than our MK2 human lander but larger than the historic Apollo lander.

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

I'm so excited to lead this team getting ready to land on the moon. It's a true team of professionals who do it all from building out the control room to planning the training to executing commands. We are taking our first steps to open up the lunar frontier for all of humanity.

[Blue Origin @blueorigin]

🌕 Sims today, Lunar South Pole soon

We’re getting close to the final stretch of training for our first Blue Moon MK1 mission. This month, we’re running end-to-end, high-fidelity simulations of several mission phases —launch, apogee‑raise burn, lunar orbit insertion, descent orbit insertion, landing, and surface ops. From our lunar Mission Control in Washington, controllers execute real procedures, send commands into a flight‑representative sim, and read telemetry from an emulation of the global network of ground stations and satellites we’ll use during the flight.

[Blue Origin @blueorigin]

We’re excited to be selected by @NASA to land astronauts back on the Moon, this time to stay. Time to get to work! https://t.co/hiAZZCRHMg

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

@drdeepsea What about cardio workouts? Or do you get that from doing dives?

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

I'm proud to be part of a company that takes the time to really understand and learn from the things that don't go quite right. Our journey back to the moon and beyond will be filled with lots of lessons, but what an incredible journey to be involved in! https://t.co/gwRwthRyfB

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

@MrPeanut With that monacle and Mr. Monopoly hat, the only way Mr. Peanut is getting a date is by covering himself up in chocolate and a candy shell. #MadeToBeRoastedContest

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

I love being in a job where people say stuff like, "This file transfer scheme helps deal with things like a planetary body being in the way."

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

Confessions of a fourth grade basketball coach: I spend way more time than is prudent trying to optimize my player roster for each game.

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

I could not ask to be on a better team with a more exciting goal. I enjoy every day of this work! https://t.co/dfqA5t7aIn

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

Was really impressed with the new exhibits at the renovated @airandspace museum. Makes me even more excited to put some new American landers on the moon in the near future!

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

Congrats to the #Cygnus team for a successful capture today. Completing the rendezvous down an entire solar array is a good demonstration of redundancy and design robustness.

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

@dinda Oh boy. Never good when sim teams get these ideas. I see a fire alarm scenario in a future lunar lander training sim. 😉

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

Tomorrow will be the first Cygnus mission since OA-7 where I will not be in the control center to support. Love working moon landers but will miss flying Cygnus. Wishing best of luck to my @northropgrumman buddies for a successful mission of the SS Sally Ride!

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

Actual law: "A United States citizen engaged in commercial recovery of an asteroid resource or a space resource under this chapter shall be entitled to any asteroid resource or space resource obtained, including to possess, own, transport, use, and sell the asteroid resource..."

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

@spacechelle @CollicottSteven @ascendspace @aiaa I didn't realize you had also flown with Dr. Collicott. Zero-g research is great!

[Paul Brower @explorerBrower]

Way to step it up Purdue! #Spoilermakers

[Blue Origin @blueorigin]

Check out the powerful #BE4 engine coming to life at our XEEx testing facility in West Texas. Seen here is a hotfire of a @ulalaunch flight engine for #VulcanRocket. 🔥🔥🔥

Sound on 🔊