Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway

Representation of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (March 2020), left - Power and Propulsion Element, middle - Habitation and Logistics module, back - cargo spaceship

The Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway (LOP-G), formerly known as the Deep Space Gateway (DSG), is a planned space station by NASA , ESA , Roskosmos , JAXA and CSA . The LOP-G should orbit the moon and - unlike the ISS - not be continuously manned. As part of the Artemis program , it will serve as a stopover for manned missions to the moon in the late 2020s and test technologies for later Mars missions .

Orbit

A southern "L2 Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit ", a family of stable lunar orbits, is planned for the LOP-G . The Periselen should be about 1,500 km above the north pole of the moon, the Aposelen about 70,000 km above the South Pole. The orbital period is about 6.5 d , which corresponds to a 9: 2 orbital resonance with the synodic period of the moon. The orbit plane should be perpendicular to the earth-moon connection line, so that a permanent visual and radio connection to ground stations on earth is possible.

Project planning

In addition to the Japanese JAXA , the Canadian CSA and European ESA want to participate in the project. In August 2017, the CSA awarded the contract to build a remote manipulator system (RMS / Canadarm ), an electromechanical gripper arm for the planned space station.

In September 2017, Roskosmos signed a letter of intent with NASA to work together on this project. Other space agencies of the BRICS countries were also invited to cooperate. In addition to modules, Roskosmos wants to contribute to the project with its Proton-M and Angara launch vehicles , which are still under development.

On February 28, 2019, the Canadian Space Agency announced its participation in the LOP-G.

In May 2019 NASA awarded the contract for the development of the gateway's drive unit to Space Systems / Loral .

On June 5, NASA awarded Northrop Grumman a $ 187 million contract to develop a Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module. It is intended to serve as accommodation for the crew during their stay. However, the sum does not cover the entire construction costs, but only the design phase until the end of 2020.

Planned construction

In March 2017, NASA published a schedule for the construction and use of the Lunar Orbital Platform gateway, which ends with a manned flight to Mars. This plan should primarily manned flights Orion - ships are used to bring the additional modules to the station. This planning was revised in 2019 as part of the Artemis program ; the first two gateway modules are now to be transported separately with privately operated rockets such as the Falcon Heavy .

The first module - the Power and Propulsion Module - is to contain solar cells for power supply and engines. This will be followed by a provisional small residential module (“Utilization Module” or “Minimal Habitation Module”, MHM) based on the Cygnus spaceship . Third, a larger residential module and fourth, a logistics module are to be added to enable longer stays in the station.

The plans in 2017 envisaged installing an airlock in 2026 and docking there with an unmanned Deep Space Transport (DST) flight , a reusable spaceship with a chemical rocket engine and ion propulsion . This should be followed by a manned flight and the crew should spend more than six months in the station. After a mission to replenish fuel and supplies, a crew should live in the DST for about a year from 2028 . To demonstrate independence from the rest of the station, the DST should possibly be decoupled and only return to the Lunar Orbital Platform gateway at the end of the mission. After another supply mission it was then planned to fly to Mars with a crew of four and enter Mars orbit. The DST should then fly back to the Lunar Orbital Platform gateway later. This mission was tentatively scheduled for 2030 or later.

The goal of manned Mars flights in the 2030s is still adhered to.

criticism

Former NASA director Mike Griffin called it "stupid" to build the gateway before astronauts land on the moon. The gateway is not required for this. The Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin spoke out against the gateway concept in general.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thales signs contract with ESA for two LOP-G mission elements studies. In: arospace-technology.com. September 5, 2018, accessed May 2, 2019 . 
2. ↑ The orbit radius in relation to the center of the moon is supposed to be around 3200 km in periseles.
3. ↑ Ryan J. Whitley, Diane C. Davis, Laura M. Burke, Brian P. McCarthy, Rolfe J. Power, Melissa L. McGuire, Kathleen C. Howell: Earth-Moon Near Rectilinear and Butterfly Orbits for Lunar Surface Exploration . In: American Astronautical Society / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Eds.): AAS / AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, Snowbird, Utah . August 2018 ( purdue.edu [PDF; 3.0 MB ]).
4. ^ Clark P. Newman, Ryan M. Sieling, Diane C. Davis, Ryan J. Whitley: Attitude Control and Orbit Determination of a Crewed Spacecraft with Lunar Lander in near Rectilinear Halo Orbit . In: American Astronomical Society / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Ed.): 29th AAS / AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting . Ka'anapali, Hawaii January 14, 2019 ( nasa.gov ).
5. ↑ What is the Deep Space Gateway? In: ESA . August 21, 2017, accessed September 28, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Japan has plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 - with a little help from the United States. In: Spacenews.com. June 29, 2017, accessed September 28, 2017 . 
7. ↑ Identifying emerging technologies for robotics systems for potential space station near the moon. In: Canadian Space Agency . August 18, 2017, accessed September 28, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Russia wants to advance the space station in the moon orbit with the USA . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . September 27, 2017, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed September 27, 2017]).
9. ↑ Russia and the USA are planning a joint lunar station. In: The Landbote . September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017 . 
10. ↑ Historic investments in Canada's space program to create jobs and new industries. February 28, 2019, accessed February 28, 2019 . 
11. ^ NASA Awards Artemis Contract for Lunar Gateway Power, Propulsion . NASA, May 23, 2019.
12. ^ NASA issues contract to Northrop Grumman for Gateway module. June 6, 2020, accessed June 7, 2020 (American English). 
13. ^ ^{A b} Forward to the Moon: NASA's Strategic Plan for Lunar Exploration. (PDF) NASA, May 2019, accessed on May 26, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Declaration by NASA on the award of the contract for the Minimal Habitation Module to Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems . July 19, 2019 (English, PDF; 0.1 MB); Source .
15. ^ Deep Space Gateway to Open Opportunities for Distant Destinations. In: NASA . March 28, 2017, accessed September 9, 2017 . 
16. ↑ NASA finally sets goals, missions for SLS - eyes multi-step plan to Mars. In: NasaSpaceflight.com. April 6, 2017, accessed September 9, 2017 . 
17. ↑ NASA's human space flight plans come into focus with announcement of Deep Space Gateway. April 1, 2017, accessed September 9, 2017 . 
18. ↑ Eric Berger: Former NASA administrator says Lunar Gateway is “a stupid architecture”. In: Ars Technica. November 15, 2018, accessed May 2, 2019 .