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NASA is moving forward with plans to send astronauts to the moon from here to 2024, the award of a $ 375 million contract for the commercial development of the first module of a mini space station in lunar orbit, which will serve as a gathering base for astronauts who go down to the surface, announced the agency Thursday
Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator, also told the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida, that NASA planners hope to select a astronauts, perhaps a dozen or so, starting this summer, to begin the generic training at the Artemis Moon accelerated program.
"Regarding the selection of the astronaut for who will be the first woman or the next man on the surface of the moon, if we have a two-person lander, it could be two women's action" said Bridenstine to the press. "We do not know, we have not chosen yet.
"But in the coming months, we are going to bring together a group of people we are going to select for these lunar activities.At the Johnson Space Center, there is already a list.And I will also tell you that at NASA in general , each of our astronauts wants to be that person. "
NASA
He said that the first astronauts to walk on the moon as part of the Artemis program would only spend a few hours on the surface, much like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did during the pioneering mission Apollo 11 50 years ago this summer.
"It will not be days," he said of the first Artemis mission. "We can get out of the lander, walk on the surface of the moon, do a useful science, leave experiments, collect rocks or a regolith, then go back into the spaceship and return to the Gateway."
The goal, he said, is to "prove all the capabilities of our best test astronauts and eventually future missions after that, we would potentially have a housing capacity with longer missions ".
Until recently, NASA was working on plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2028. But the Trump administration asked the agency to change this four-year schedule, setting the new target date to 2024.
To help launch the newly appointed Artemis program, the administration is asking legislators to An additional $ 1.6 billion for NASA in its 2020 budget request, modified to finance the rapid development of critical systems, the agency had to implement this 2024 objective. Additional funds will be needed in future budgets.
Part of this start-up money is for the ongoing development of the Boeing super-rocket space launch system, which NASA is preparing to encourage astronauts to travel to the moon in Orion capsules built by Lockheed Martin. A first unmanned test flight is scheduled for the end of next year, followed by the first test flight piloted in 2023.
The third flight of the SLS will transport astronauts to the moon for a landing in 2024. At this point, a small space station, called Gateway, must be in orbit around the moon, as well as a landing craft capable of L & Orion crew on the surface of the moon. NASA plans to award contracts for the landing gear around 1 October.
The heart of the Gateway Station is a power and propulsion module equipped with a 50-kilowatt high-tech solar electric propulsion system and large solar panels to provide the necessary energy. It will weigh about 11,000 pounds at launch, half of this booster.
A small pressurized module will be connected and will provide at least two docking ports, one to accommodate visiting Orion capsules and the other for use by the lunar lander and the lift vehicle.
NASA
NASA has selected Maxar Technologies as the power and propulsion component of Gateway, at the expense of competing proposals from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Sierra Nevada.
The fixed price contract announced Thursday has a maximum value of $ 375 million. The contract begins with a 12-month base period covering module design, followed by options, covering development, launch at the end of 2022 and a flight demonstration lasting up to one year.
During this period, the spacecraft, launched at the top of a commercial rocket, will be owned and operated by Maxar. If all goes well, NASA will buy the spacecraft that will serve as the centerpiece of the Gateway station.
"This program will not only achieve NASA's goals, but will also transform the private sector by creating jobs and innovation along the way," said Mike Gold, vice president of Maxar for the company. civilian space.
Bill Gerstenmaier, director of space operations at NASA headquarters, said the award was a milestone for the Artemis program.
"It's an important thing to have a contract partner with us to deliver this first key gateway piece, which will be essential for us, to build this unique infrastructure around the moon," he said. he declares.
"We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, and it will not be easy to get all the material we need to prepare for the Moon, but it's a critical first step," he said. a key catalyst. "
The fuel-efficient engine of the Propulsion and Propulsion Module will be able to alter Gateway's orbit, allowing astronauts to reach virtually any target on the surface. In the short term, the target is the southern polar region of the Moon, where large ice reservoirs are present in cold, permanently shaded craters.
The discovery of accessible ice deposits would allow future crews to use solar-powered electrolysis to extract hydrogen and oxygen, an in situ source of rocket propellants, air and water.
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