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NASA invites partners to a lunar base Published: 2006 Dec. 4 NASA officials, leading the US effort to return humans to the Moon, said they were expecting international partners, to contribute to the construction, operation and use of a future lunar outpost. Speaking at the formal unveiling of a proposed lunar architecture on Monday, Dec. 4, 2006, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, said that the agency had committed to the construction of a permanently occupied lunar base beginning in 2020. Dale said that beginning in 2007, NASA would actively engage international partners into discussions on their possible contribution into the program. She specifically mentioned a proposed Russian-European lunar transportation system, which could provide needed redundancy to the US-built rockets and landers, supplying the base. The origin of this philosophy can be traced to the International Space Station program, whose survival after the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, was ensured by the Russian Soyuz and Progress transport ships. Doug Cooke, Deputy Associate Administrator, Exploration Systems Directorate, said that although the US would remain a sole developer of all critical systems, including launch vehicles, communication and navigations systems, as well as spacewalk hardware for the lunar base, a number of elements still could be contributed by the international partners or by the private industry. Among possible contributions, NASA officials mentioned additional habitable modules, including inflatable structures, and lunar surface rovers. Lunar lander The US lunar base would start with landings of a yet-to-be-developed manned lunar lander, carrying a crew of four, which would initially spend only short periods on the surface. According to Scott Horowitz, NASA Associate Administrator, after 2024, first sorties to the lunar surface would be followed by long-duration missions, lasting up to 180 days, eventually leading to permanent occupation. As of December 2006, the preliminary design review of the lander was not expected before 2011-2013, therefore the architecture of the ship would remain "fluid" besides its basic requirement to carry cargo and a crew of four. Lunar base Most new information revealed at the December 4, 2006, briefing concerned the lunar base itself. NASA announced that it narrowed its choice of locations for the future base to the polar regions of the Moon. A combination of factors, including easy access, scientific potential and all but constant sunlight were among the factors prompting this choice. The ample of sunlight would guarantee reliable power supply to the base through solar panels, even though eventually the nuclear power sources could become preferable, NASA officials said. NASA identified a narrow strip on the rim of the Shackleton Crater near the South Pole of the Moon as one of the favored sites, though not yet final location for the base. The officials said that the location itself was well illuminated by the Sun, but at the same time bordered a region believed to be in the shadow for eons. As results, the accumulations of the water ice at the site could be a major source of resources for the future base. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, LRO As of December 2006, NASA planned to launch an unmanned lunar orbiter designed to conduct detailed cartography of the Moon to provide data for the final selection of the site for the lunar base. Robotic lander As of December 2006, a robotic lander was to be sent to the lunar surface to investigate potential site for the lunar base sometimes after 2010. Ares I booster Specifically for the launches of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, NASA planned to develop a Crew Launch Vehicle, aka Ares I. The development milestones for the rocket looked as followed (as of December 2006, unless noted otherwise): 2008: Live test flight of the Launch Abort System for the crew 2009: Test launch of a live first stage and a mockup second stage 2010 December: The first J-2X engine test at a just completed stand at the Stennis Space Center to support Aers I and Ares V programs. (As of May 8, 2007) 2012: "All-up" test launch 2015 March: The first manned launch of NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (into the low Earth orbit) (Date as of March 2007. From January 2004 to Aug. 30, 2006, the mission was expected as early as September 2014). Orion CEV spacecraft The Orion Crew Exploration vehicle spacecraft would carry the crew to the Earth orbit , toward the Moon and in the orbit around the Moon. Ares V booster Within SEI, NASA also committed to develop a heavy-lift booster designed to deliver a lunar lander, along with a fully fueled escape stage, into the low-Earth orbit. After the CEV docks with the lander in the Earth orbit, the escape stage would propel the whole stack toward the Moon. The rocket was designated Ares V (Ares-5), to commemorate the Saturn V (Saturn-5) moon rocket. |
PICTURE GALLERY
The Russian-European systems, like a proposed Soyuz-ACTS vehicle could join the US-led effort to build a lunar base. Copyright © 2006 Anatoly Zak
Artist concept of a lunar module proposed for the Space Exploration Initiative, as of Dec. 4, 2006. Credit: NASA
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