NASA Announces National Space Exploration Campaign, Complete With Brand New Orbiting Moon-Base!

In response to the US Congress’s passing of the NASA Transitional Authorization Act of 2017, which called upon the agency to develop a human exploration roadmap, NASA has unveiled its National Space Exploration Campaign, this Sept of 2018

The National Space Exploration Campaign aims to revitalize, and add direction to NASA’s enduring purpose to carry out human and robotic exploration missions, expand the frontiers of human experience and scientific discovery of the natural phenomena of Earth, other worlds, and the cosmos as a whole.

The National Space Exploration Campaign addresses five core drivers:

1. Scientific Knowledge
2. Global Engagement
3. Economic Development
4. Societal Improvement
5. Leadership and Inspiration

And has five strategic goals:

1. Transition US human spaceflight in Low Earth-Orbit, to commercial operations which support NASA & the needs of an emerging commercial economy
2. Lead the building of remote infrastructure of capabilities to support lunar surface operations and facilitate missions beyond the moon
3. Foster scientific discovery and characterization of lunar resources through a series of robotic missions
4. Return US astronauts to the surface of the moon for a sustained campaign of exploration and utilization
5. Demonstrate on the moon the capabilities required for human missions to Mars and other destinations

The document points out the growing competition in space exploration and possible exploitation by other countries:

“China, India, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Israel and multiple European nations all have announced plans or initiated missions to send spacecraft into lunar orbit and to the surface of the Moon. In 2013, China demonstrated a successful lunar landing and rover mission, and today, is preparing a pioneering mission to the far side of the Moon.

Likewise, opportunities and challenges exist on our path to Mars. America has been the unsurpassed leader on the Red Planet. American robotic craft are the only ones in history to successfully land on Mars. Many nations, including China, now are planning their own missions to Mars’s orbit and surface in the coming years.”

NASA’s new campaign states that it does not assume or require significant funding increases, which seems to indicate they will be reprioritizing exploration of more distant parts of our solar system and Universe, into exploration, travel, and facilitate economic development of the Moon and Mars, specifically.

In the coming years, NASA plans to utilize the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS), which will be the focus of human transportation for this campaign, so expect renewed vigor in the development and testing of these technologies, which some would say has stagnated over the past few years — although the Orion has been test-flown once, without a crew, in 2014 where it reached a high Earth-Orbit before returning to the Earth successfully.

The crewed (left) and crew-less (right) configuration of NASA’s replacement for the Shuttle program

NASA seeks leadership in space science and exploration
through excellence in long-duration spaceflight, in-space manufacturing, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), long-term cryogenic fuel storage and management, and advanced spacecraft power and propulsion capabilities.

Our priorities also include facilitating the economic development of new commercial space sectors, including microgravity-related research, commercial cargo and crew transportation, and commercial enterprise on the surface and in orbit around the Moon.

Moon timeline

Timeline of goals:

• Begin robotic lunar robotic missions focused on scientific exploration of resources, and preparing the lunar surface for sustained human presence, starting as early as 2020
• Uncrewed SLS trip around the moon and back. Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) is currently scheduled to launch in 2020
• Manned Orion/SLS Orbit of the moon and return. Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) is currently planned to launch by the end of 2023
• Landing astronauts on the surface no later than 2020s using Orion/SLS
• Crewed missions to orbit Mars beginning in the 2030’s, culminating in a surface landing

By 2025, NASA intends to shift its resources from operating the ISS to
purchasing services from commercial providers and providing resources to The National Space Exploration Campaign.

“The Gateway”

As part of the National Space Exploration Campaign— NASA is planning on constructing an orbiting space station around the moon, called The Gateway. This orbiting platform will provide support systems for astronauts farther from Earth, giving them the ability for longer stays on the lunar surface, easier crew returns, and a safe haven in the event of an emergency.

NASA will use The Gateway to study the effects of a radiation and microgravity environment beyond Low Earth-Orbit, servicing as a laboratory to expand knowledge in this area by hosting biological and biomedical studies in the deep-space environment over long periods of time. This will better prepare for missions to Mars and beyond.

Some of the elements of The Gateway are already under construction, and the first component, providing power and propulsion, is set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in 2022. When it’s complete, it will be 1/5th of the size of the International Space Station — although its modular design will allow it to be easily grown to be larger in the future.

NASA plans to deliver and build this new modular orbiting moonbase using the American Orion spacecraft and SLS system, as well as commercial launch vehicles.

NASA will immediately use its current exploration missions, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun
(ARTEMIS), to support this increase in scientific discovery objectives.

NASA is reviewing longer-term, higher-power capabilities needed to survive lunar nights and operations in shaded portions of the surface by considering surface fission power, which will fuel in-situ resource utilization demonstrations and other needs. NASA also is studying requirements
for the next-generation spacesuits needed for lunar exploration.

As this plan progresses, NASA plans to try to answer the following questions:

1. Can the Moon become a center for commercial enterprise? Are there significant deposits of water that can support human settlement or fuel a human journey to deep space?
2. How can the Campaign engage a broader range of U.S. industrial sectors?
   “Unlike the Apollo era of 60 years ago, the U.S. commercial sector includes maturing industries specializing in highly advanced microelectronics, materials, advanced manufacturing and design processes, power generation and storage, autonomy and software, data analytics, and others. NASA seeks new ways to leverage and incorporate these capabilities into the space sector. NASA will continue to encourage increased competition and efficiency for current technologies, as well as nontraditional partnerships that support a range of needed capabilities, from landers to lunar surface mining technologies.”
3. How can we translate the incredible developments from this Campaign into benefits for American and global society?
   “Just as the ISS spurred broader applications and innovations on
   Earth, America goes to the Moon to extend humanity’s presence in the solar system and to improve the lives of people on Earth.”
4. How will advanced propulsion play a role in opening the ocean of space for American voyagers well beyond today’s limitations? For example, what roles will chemical propulsion, solar electric propulsion, and nuclear propulsion for space transportation play?
   “Whether to use nuclear propulsion for future exploration missions in the 2030s and beyond will need to be determined, as this will affect the design of many future systems.”

Due to the ambitiousness of this new campaign, NASA has some planned milestones, but also recognizes that they will need to make some critical decisions as to how to focus its energies, as the program progresses and they learn from their previous successes and, with good fortune, rare failures.

Critical Decisions and Milestons:

• Lunar Orbit

2018:
• Decision to develop the Gateway, commercial and international partnerships, and final configuration. The Gateway also will provide broad science research and technology demonstration opportunities from cislunar space, in areas including lunar surface (e.g., lunar sample return, tele-robotics, etc.), astrophysics, heliophysics and Earth science.

2019:
• Determine appropriate Gateway requirements and then, based on those, orbitalparameters. A key consideration will be affordability (i.e., Gateway can be visited by multiple launch vehicles).

2020:
• SLS/Orion EM-1, uncrewed, to the lunar vicinity.
• Initiate scientific payload development for Gateway by competitively assessing the most suitable and impactful scientific analysis.
• Science and industry missions flown on EM-1 using 13 co-manifested CubeSats launched as secondary payloads.
• Decision on acquisition approach for remaining elements of Gateway (complete by 2021).
• Based on status of launch vehicle development, decide on future Gateway logistic resupply missions

2022:
• By June, conduct crewed flight, EM-2, sending Americans around the Moon.
• First element of Gateway, the power-propulsion (including communications) element (PPE), placed in lunar orbit.

2024:
• Based on status of crew capsule development and operations, decide on need for further investments to increase options for return to Earth from lunar orbit

Post 2024 Decisions:
• Based on human lunar surface return plans and scope, and decision on human Mars orbital mission architecture for the 2030s, determine need for, and viability of, developing and placing propellant depots in lunar orbit. Assess and make appropriate decisions on Gateway evolution requirements.

• Lunar Surface

2018:
• Decision to procure commercial lunar payload services for NASA starting as early as 2019
• Establish the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program in SMD. This initiative will feature several programs, including Commercial Lunar Payload Services (funding for end-to-end delivery of payloads to the lunar surface starting in 2020).
• Decision on potential missions to focus on lunar resources and other scientific discoveries, including mobility and sample return capabilities.

2019:
• Make early decisions on architecture of lunar exploration program.
• Decision on a date for a demonstration mission for human-class lunar lander capability.
• Decision to begin human lunar surface architecture and mission analyses to support
• Americans on the lunar surface no later than 2029.

2020:
• Based on early results of human-class lunar lander development and human lunar surface architecture analyses, begin capability stimulation, development and/or procurement of other elements required for human lunar surface return (e.g., human cabin and ascent vehicle, retro-braking stage, extended Orion service module).

2021:
• Based on results of commercial services for NASA lunar payloads, plan to either procure commercial launch services for a second resource and science rover mission or conduct mission development and operations in-house.

2022:
• Based on results of 2022 NASA lunar resource and science rover mission, plan to either accelerate development of ISRU systems and partnerships, or maintain baseline R&D effort

2024:
• Based on results of human-class lunar lander capability demonstration missions, status of other human systems, other possible mission enhancements (e.g., retro-braking stage, launch vehicle availability) make decision on date and method of human lunar surface return and the mission objectives.

Post 2024 Decisions:
• Based on the cost of lunar surface access, viability of higher-power systems and ISRU, as revealed by exploration and science missions and technology investments, and on private-sector and international demand for lunar surface access, determine the nature of a sustainable American human presence on the lunar surface and associated infrastructure
development projects.

• Mars:

2019:
• Decision on Mars robotic roundtrip mission (Mars Sample Return) implementation and architecture and target launch date.
• Decision on Mars-forward technology R&D investment portfolio in Exploration Research and Technology (ER&T).
• Prioritize and guide investments and partnerships in “long-pole” technology areas and resource characterization needed for the exploration of Mars and other deep space destinations (ongoing).
• Develop standards for human long-duration deep space transportation vehicles (ongoing).

2021:
• Based on results of Mars 2020, the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE) payload, and helicopter performance, modify Mars-forward technology R&D investment portfolio in ER&T.

2024:
• Based on results of investment in Mars-forward technology R&D investment portfolio, Gateway development and operations, launch vehicle and crew vehicle development and operations, decide on architecture of human Mars orbital mission and begin associated systems development.

Post-2024 Decisions:
• Based on results of robotic roundtrip mission, cislunar operations, and progress of Marsforward technology R&D investment portfolio, determine set of technology investments and timeline required to achieve human landing on the surface of Mars.

The Full NASA document announcing The National Space Exploration Campaign can be Found Here.

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