unknownskywalker: NASA eyes plan for deep-space...

10th February 2012

Photoset reblogged from The Dark Side of the Force with 51 notes

NASA eyes plan for deep-space outpost near the Moon

NASA is pressing forward on assessing the value of a “human-tended waypoint” near the far side of the moon — one that would embrace international partnerships as well as commercial and academic participation.

According to a Feb. 3 memo from William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations, a team is being formed to develop a cohesive plan for exploring a spot in space known as the Earth-moon libration point 2 (EML-2).

Libration points, also known as Lagrangian points, are places in space where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses roughly balance each other out, allowing spacecraft to essentially “park” there. A pre-memo NASA appraisal of EML-2, which is near the lunar far side, has spotlighted this destination as the “leading option” for a near-term exploration capability.

EML-2 could serve as a gateway for capability-driven exploration of multiple destinations, such as near-lunar space, asteroids, the moon, the moons of Mars and, ultimately, Mars itself, according to NASA officials. A capabilities-driven NASA architecture is one that should use the agency’s planned heavy-lift rocket, known as the Space Launch System, and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle “as the foundational elements.”

Above: Artist’s concepts of astronauts working in a possible space station near the Moon, with a docked Orion spacecraft. [source]

Source: space.com

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