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76-523: The European System Providing Refueling Infrastructure and Telecommunications ( ESPRIT ) is an under construction module of the Lunar Gateway . It will provide refueling through additional xenon and hydrazine capacity for use in the Power and Propulsion Element 's ion engines and hydrazine thrusters. It will also provide additional communications equipment, a habitation area, and storage. It will have

152-680: A Falcon Heavy rocket in 2027 They are expected to reach lunar orbit after nine to ten months. The I-Hab module, a contribution from ESA and JAXA, is to be launched on the SLS Block 1B as a co-manifested payload on the Artemis IV crewed Orion mission. All modules will be connected using the International Docking System Standard . The concept for the Gateway is still evolving, and is intended to include

228-458: A Falcon Heavy rocket no earlier than 2027. NASA officials promote the Gateway as a "reusable command module" that could direct activities on the lunar surface. However, Gateway has received some negative reactions. Michael D. Griffin , a former NASA administrator, said that the Gateway could be useful only after there are facilities on the Moon producing propellant that could be transported to

304-487: A magnetosphere around a planet. Early space probes discovered the gross dimensions of the terrestrial magnetic field, which extends about 10 Earth radii towards the Sun. The solar wind , a stream of charged particles, streams out and around the terrestrial magnetic field, and continues behind the magnetic tail, hundreds of Earth radii downstream. Inside the magnetosphere, there are relatively dense regions of solar wind particles,

380-405: A near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. The eccentricity of the chosen NRHO takes the station within 1,500 km (930 mi) of the lunar north pole surface at closest approach, and as far away as 70,000 km (43,000 mi) over the lunar south pole , with a period of about 7 days. One of the advantages of an NRHO is the minimal amount of communications blackout with

456-475: A contributor to The Hill newspaper and an author of several space exploration studies, stated in an article that the "lunar orbit project doesn't help us get back to the Moon". Whittington also pointed out that a lunar orbiting space station was not used during the Apollo program and that a "reusable lunar lander could be refueled from a depot on the lunar surface and left in a parking orbit between missions without

532-597: A future destination, as someone who lived on the ISS for 200 days, I cannot envision a new technology that would be developed or validated by building another modular space station. Without a specific goal, we're unlikely to ever identify one". Virts further criticized NASA for abandoning its planned goal of separating crew from cargo, which was put in place following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin stated that he

608-512: A launch mass of approximately 10,000 kg (22,000 lb), a length of 6.4 m (21 ft), and a diameter of 4.6 m (15 ft). ESA awarded two parallel design studies for ESPRIT, one mostly led by Airbus in partnership with Comex and OHB and one led by Thales Alenia Space . The construction of the module was approved in November 2019. On 14 October 2020, Thales Alenia Space announced that they had been selected by ESA to build

684-415: A mountain as tall as, for example, 15 km (9 mi), would develop so much pressure at its base, due to gravity, that the rock there would become plastic , and the mountain would slump back to a height of roughly 10 km (6 mi) in a geologically insignificant time. Some or all of these geologic principles can be applied to other planets besides Earth. For instance on Mars, whose surface gravity

760-596: A narrow corridor and a total of 1.5 cubic meters (53 cubic feet) of personal space to be shared by four astronauts. Mars Society founder Robert Zubrin called the Gateway "NASA's worst plan yet" in an article in the National Review . He said, "We do not need a lunar-orbiting station to go to the Moon . We do not need such a station to go to Mars . We do not need it to go to near-Earth asteroids . We do not need it to go anywhere. Nor can we accomplish anything in such

836-493: A smooth and polished surface" suggested that it and other worlds might appear "just like the face of the Earth itself". Advances in telescope construction and instrumental resolution gradually allowed increased identification of the atmospheric as well as surface details of the planets. The Moon was initially the most heavily studied, due to its proximity to the Earth, as it always exhibited elaborate features on its surface, and

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912-538: A space station to orbit it". Former NASA astronaut Terry W. Virts , who was a pilot of STS-130 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour and commander of the ISS on Expedition 43 , wrote in an op-ed on Ars Technica that the Gateway would "shackle human exploration, not enable it". He also said, "If we don't have the goal [of Gateway], we are putting the proverbial chicken before the egg by developing " Gemini " before we know what " Apollo " will look like. Regardless of

988-502: A station that we cannot do in the Earth-orbiting International Space Station , except to expose human subjects to irradiation – a form of medical research for which a number of Nazi doctors were hanged ". Zubrin also stated, "If the goal is to build a Moon base, it should be built on the surface of the Moon. That is where the science is, that is where the shielding material is, and that is where

1064-562: A wide range of peer reviewed journals . Some planetary scientists work at private research centres and often initiate partnership research tasks. The history of planetary science may be said to have begun with the Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus , who is reported by Hippolytus as saying The ordered worlds are boundless and differ in size, and that in some there is neither sun nor moon, but that in others, both are greater than with us, and yet with others more in number. And that

1140-418: Is "quite opposed to the Gateway" and that "using the Gateway as a staging area for robotic or human missions to the lunar surface is absurd". Aldrin also questioned the benefit of the idea of sending "a crew to an intermediate point in space, pick up a lander there and go down". Conversely, Aldrin expressed support for Robert Zubrin 's Moon Direct concept which involves lunar landers traveling from Earth orbit to

1216-716: Is a space station which is planned to be assembled in orbit around the Moon . The Gateway is intended to serve as a communication hub, science laboratory, and habitation module for astronauts as part of the Artemis program . It is a multinational collaborative project: participants include NASA , the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and

1292-647: Is an important transitional zone between the solid planetary surface and the higher rarefied ionizing and radiation belts. Not all planets have atmospheres: their existence depends on the mass of the planet, and the planet's distance from the Sun ;– too distant and frozen atmospheres occur. Besides the four giant planets , three of the four terrestrial planets ( Earth , Venus , and Mars ) have significant atmospheres. Two moons have significant atmospheres: Saturn 's moon Titan and Neptune 's moon Triton . A tenuous atmosphere exists around Mercury . The effects of

1368-569: Is composed of 14 space agencies including NASA, has concluded that Gateway systems will be critical in expanding human presence to the Moon , to Mars , and deeper into the Solar System . The project is expected to play a major role in the Artemis program after 2024. NASA's Budget for FY 2025 included $ 817.7 million for the project. While the project is led by NASA, the Gateway is meant to be developed, serviced, and used in collaboration with

1444-507: Is following Space Policy Directive 1", speaking of the Gateway and following up with "I would argue that we got there in 1969. That race is over, and we won. The time now is to build a sustainable, reusable architecture. [...] The next time we go to the Moon, we're going to have American boots on the Moon with the American flag on their shoulders, and they're going to be standing side-by-side with our international partners who have never been to

1520-501: Is much less, the largest volcano, Olympus Mons , is 27 km (17 mi) high at its peak, a height that could not be maintained on Earth. The Earth geoid is essentially the figure of the Earth abstracted from its topographic features. Therefore, the Mars geoid ( areoid ) is essentially the figure of Mars abstracted from its topographic features. Surveying and mapping are two important fields of application of geodesy. An atmosphere

1596-611: The Apollo astronauts for the field geology they would encounter on their lunar missions. Overlapping sequences were identified on images taken by the Lunar Orbiter program , and these were used to prepare a lunar stratigraphic column and geological map of the Moon. One of the main problems when generating hypotheses on the formation and evolution of objects in the Solar System is the lack of samples that can be analyzed in

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1672-619: The Apollo Lunar Module . Lunar bases , like the first Tranquility Base as well as concepts for lunar bases have been the main focus of human presence at the Moon. An earlier NASA proposal for a cislunar station had been made public in 2012 and was dubbed the Deep Space Habitat . That proposal led to funding in 2015 under the NextSTEP program to study the requirements of deep space habitats. In February 2018, it

1748-569: The CSA , ESA , JAXA , and commercial partners. It will serve as the staging point for both robotic and crewed exploration of the lunar south pole and is the proposed staging point for NASA's Deep Space Transport concept for transport to Mars. Formerly known as the Deep Space Gateway ( DSG ), the station was renamed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway ( LOP-G ) in NASA's 2018 proposal for

1824-468: The Earth . Traveling to and from cislunar space (lunar orbit) is intended to develop the knowledge and experience necessary to venture beyond the Moon and into deep space. The proposed NRHO would allow lunar expeditions from the Gateway to reach a low polar orbit with a Δ v of 730 m/s and a half a day of transit time. Orbital station-keeping would require less than 10 m/s of Δ v per year, and

1900-506: The HED meteorites back to a specific asteroid in the main belt, 4 Vesta . The comparatively few known Martian meteorites have provided insight into the geochemical composition of the Martian crust, although the unavoidable lack of information about their points of origin on the diverse Martian surface has meant that they do not provide more detailed constraints on theories of the evolution of

1976-600: The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). The Gateway is planned to be the first space station beyond low Earth orbit . The science disciplines to be studied on the Gateway are expected to include planetary science , astrophysics , Earth observation , heliophysics , fundamental space biology , and human health and performance. As of April 2024, construction is underway of the initial habitation and propulsion modules. The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), which

2052-652: The Van Allen radiation belts . Planetary geophysics includes, but is not limited to, seismology and tectonophysics , geophysical fluid dynamics , mineral physics , geodynamics , mathematical geophysics , and geophysical surveying . Planetary geodesy (also known as planetary geodetics) deals with the measurement and representation of the planets of the Solar System, their gravitational fields and geodynamic phenomena ( polar motion in three-dimensional, time-varying space). The science of geodesy has elements of both astrophysics and planetary sciences. The shape of

2128-436: The biosphere , but those meteorites collected in the last few decades from Antarctica are almost entirely pristine. The different types of meteorites that originate from the asteroid belt cover almost all parts of the structure of differentiated bodies: meteorites even exist that come from the core-mantle boundary ( pallasites ). The combination of geochemistry and observational astronomy has also made it possible to trace

2204-456: The gravity fields of the planets to be mapped. For example, in the 1970s, the gravity field disturbances above lunar maria were measured through lunar orbiters, which led to the discovery of concentrations of mass, mascons , beneath the Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Nectaris and Humorum basins. If a planet's magnetic field is sufficiently strong, its interaction with the solar wind forms

2280-399: The orbital inclination could be shifted with a relatively small Δ v expenditure, allowing access to most of the lunar surface. Spacecraft launched from Earth would perform a powered flyby of the Moon (Δ v ≈ 180 m/s) followed by a Δ v ≈ 240 m/s NRHO insertion burn to dock with the Gateway as it approaches the apoapsis point of its orbit. The total travel time would be 5 days;

2356-399: The rotation rate of a planet about its axis can be seen in atmospheric streams and currents. Seen from space, these features show as bands and eddies in the cloud system and are particularly visible on Jupiter and Saturn. Exoplanetology studies exoplanets , the planets existing outside our Solar System . Until recently, the means of studying exoplanets have been extremely limited, but with

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2432-528: The 2019 United States federal budget. When the NASA budget was signed into law on February 15, 2019, US$ 450 million had been committed by Congress to preliminary studies. In November 2019, NASA unveiled the name and logo of the space station inspired by the American frontier symbol of the St. Louis Gateway Arch . The Apollo Command and Service Module was the first crewed lunar orbiting spacecraft performing dockings and crew transfers with another spacecraft,

2508-740: The Deep Space Gateway's location in cislunar space. The Deep Space Gateway Concept Science Workshop was held in Denver, Colorado, from 27 February to 1 March 2018. This three-day conference was a workshop where 196 presentations were given for possible scientific studies that could be advanced through the use of the Gateway. In 2018, NASA initiated the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition for universities to develop concepts and capabilities for

2584-695: The ESPRIT module. The module is currently slated to launch as a co-manifested payload on Artemis V in 2030. 1.5 tons of cargo will be packed inside the module for launch. The ESPRIT module will consist of two parts, the Halo Lunar Communication System (HLCS) and the ESPRIT Refueling Module (ERM). The Halo Lunar Communication System (HLCS) will provide communications for the station, allowing it to transmit data to and receive data from other spacecraft on and around

2660-422: The Earth is to a large extent the result of its rotation, which causes its equatorial bulge , and the competition of geologic processes such as the collision of plates and of vulcanism , resisted by the Earth's gravity field. These principles can be applied to the solid surface of Earth ( orogeny ; Few mountains are higher than 10 km (6 mi), few deep sea trenches deeper than that because quite simply,

2736-400: The Gateway as well as other commercial applications, so the Gateway is likely to incorporate components developed under NextSTEP as well. The PPE will use four 6 kW BHT-6000 Busek Hall-effect thrusters and three 12 kW NASA / Aerojet Rocketdyne Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) Hall-effect thrusters for a total engine output fractionally under 50 kW. In 2019,

2812-452: The Gateway project, each contributing a robotic arm called Canadarm3 (CSA), refuelling and communications hardware, habitation and research capacity and an airlock module. These international elements are intended to launch after the initial NASA PPE and HALO elements are placed into lunar orbit with some co-manifested with Artemis missions. On 1 November 2017, NASA commissioned five studies lasting four months into affordable ways to develop

2888-913: The Gateway, the thinking is we'll be able to reuse the ascent modules potentially multiple times. And again, if we can get mission duration beyond the 30 days, it's going to offer us some additional environmental capabilities. We think it's a tremendous risk buy down asset, not only to explore the Moon sustainably, but to prove out some things that we need to do to get to Mars. Planetary science There are interrelated observational and theoretical branches of planetary science. Observational research can involve combinations of space exploration , predominantly with robotic spacecraft missions using remote sensing , and comparative, experimental work in Earth-based laboratories . The theoretical component involves considerable computer simulation and mathematical modelling . Planetary scientists are generally located in

2964-595: The Gateway, with just with one logistics module, we think we can extend to about twice the mission duration, so 30 days to 60 days. Obviously, the more crew time you have in lunar orbit helps us with research in the human aspects of living in deep space. The more duration we have, certainly that'll help us buy down significant risk with the extreme environments that we're going to be subjecting our crews to. Because we've got to go figure out how to operate in deep space. Obviously we'll demonstrate new hardware and offer that sustainable flexible path for our Lunar Lander system. With

3040-486: The Gateway. Griffin thinks that after that is achieved, the Gateway would then serve as a fuel depot. In a written testimony to Congress, Griffin stated that the current architecture requiring staging operations at a Gateway based in a lunar polar near-rectlinear halo orbit (NRHO) with a 6.5-day period was disadvantageous in that immediate return to the Gateway from the lunar surface is possible only on 6.5-day centers and that no early human lunar mission should knowingly accept

3116-495: The Gateway. The competitors were asked to employ original engineering and analysis in one of four areas; "Gateway Uncrewed Utilization and Operations", "Gateway-Based Human Lunar Surface Access", "Gateway Logistics as a Science Platform", and "Design of a Gateway-Based Cislunar Tug". Teams of undergraduate and graduate students were asked to submit a response by 17 January 2019 addressing one of these four themes. NASA selected 20 teams to continue developing proposed concepts. Fourteen of

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3192-464: The Martian lithosphere . As of July 24, 2013, 65 samples of Martian meteorites have been discovered on Earth. Many were found in either Antarctica or the Sahara Desert. During the Apollo era, in the Apollo program , 384 kilograms of lunar samples were collected and transported to the Earth, and three Soviet Luna robots also delivered regolith samples from the Moon. These samples provide

3268-538: The Middle East. The total mass of recognized lunar meteorites is close to 50 kg. Space probes made it possible to collect data in not only the visible light region but in other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. The planets can be characterized by their force fields: gravity and their magnetic fields, which are studied through geophysics and space physics. Measuring the changes in acceleration experienced by spacecraft as they orbit has allowed fine details of

3344-455: The Moon before". Dan Hartman, the program manager for Gateway, on 30 March 2020, told Ars Technica that the benefits of using Gateway are extending the mission duration, buying down risk, providing research capability and the capability to re-use ascent modules. When you go single, I'll say direct mission to the Moon, you're limited on the supplies, either with the Lander or with Orion. With

3420-522: The Moon. A small science airlock was planned for the module during early designs in order to transfer scientific payloads outside the Gateway, but recent designs lack the airlock. The ERM is scheduled to launch on an SLS Block 1B launch vehicle in 2030, along with Artemis V . Packed inside the module will be approximately 1.5 tons of cargo for ESPRIT and Gateway operations. Orion will dock to ESPRIT following launch and deliver it to Gateway. Lunar Gateway The Lunar Gateway , or simply Gateway ,

3496-512: The Moon. It will launch in 2027 pre-attached to the HALO module, for which Thales has separately been awarded a contract by NASA to construct its hull and micrometeoroid protection. The HLCS will measure 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) in both length and width, have a mass of 270 kg (600 lb), and feature two 125 cm (49 in) dish antennas. These will allow HLCS to achieve a data rate of up to 25 Mbps. Because of its two dishes,

3572-540: The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), leveraging private companies' plans. These studies had a combined budget of US$ 2.4 million. The companies performing the PPE studies were Boeing , Lockheed Martin , Orbital ATK , Sierra Nevada and Space Systems /Loral. These awards are in addition to the ongoing set of NextSTEP-2 awards made in 2016 to study development and make ground prototypes of habitat modules that could be used on

3648-475: The Solar System and extrasolar planetary systems. Observing exoplanets and determining their physical properties, exoplanetology , is a major area of research besides Solar System studies. Every planet has its own branch. In planetary science, the term geology is used in its broadest sense, to mean the study of the surface and interior parts of planets and moons, from their core to their magnetosphere. The best-known research topics of planetary geology deal with

3724-408: The Sun, or the geomorphology of the surfaces of the terrestrial planets, to give only a few examples. The main comparison that can be made is to features on the Earth, as it is much more accessible and allows a much greater range of measurements to be made. Earth analog studies are particularly common in planetary geology, geomorphology, and also in atmospheric science. The use of terrestrial analogs

3800-425: The astronomy and physics or Earth sciences departments of universities or research centres, though there are several purely planetary science institutes worldwide. Generally, planetary scientists study one of the Earth sciences , astronomy , astrophysics , geophysics , or physics at the graduate level and concentrate their research in planetary science disciplines. There are several major conferences each year, and

3876-413: The contract to manufacture the PPE was awarded to Maxar Technologies . After a one-year demonstration period, NASA intended to "exercise a contract option to take over control of the spacecraft". Its expected service time is about 15 years. In late 2023, it was reported that flight qualification testing was occurring on the thrusters for the Power and Propulsion Element. The Gateway will be deployed in

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3952-410: The current rate of innovation in research technology , exoplanetology has become a rapidly developing subfield of astronomy . Planetary science frequently makes use of the method of comparison to give a greater understanding of the object of study. This can involve comparing the dense atmospheres of Earth and Saturn's moon Titan , the evolution of outer Solar System objects at different distances from

4028-472: The features on planetary surfaces and reconstructs the history of their formation, inferring the physical processes that acted on the surface. Planetary geomorphology includes the study of several classes of surface features: The history of a planetary surface can be deciphered by mapping features from top to bottom according to their deposition sequence , as first determined on terrestrial strata by Nicolas Steno . For example, stratigraphic mapping prepared

4104-560: The first deep-space station, far from low Earth orbit . This will be enabled by more sophisticated executive control software than on any prior space station, which will monitor and control all systems. The high-level architecture is provided by the Robotics and Intelligence for Human Spaceflight lab at NASA and implemented at NASA facilities. The Gateway could conceivably also support in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) development and testing from lunar and asteroid sources, and would offer

4180-417: The following modules: Crewed flights to the Gateway are expected to use Orion and SLS, while other missions are expected to be done by commercial launch providers. In March 2020, NASA announced SpaceX with its future spacecraft Dragon XL as the first commercial partner to deliver supplies to the Gateway (see Gateway Logistics Services ). The first two modules (PPE and HALO) will be launched together on

4256-408: The intervals between the ordered worlds are unequal, here more and there less, and that some increase, others flourish and others decay, and here they come into being and there they are eclipsed. But that they are destroyed by colliding with one another. And that some ordered worlds are bare of animals and plants and all water. In more modern times, planetary science began in astronomy, from studies of

4332-403: The laboratory, where a large suite of tools are available, and the full body of knowledge derived from terrestrial geology can be brought to bear. Direct samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars are present on Earth, removed from their parent bodies, and delivered as meteorites . Some of these have suffered contamination from the oxidising effect of Earth's atmosphere and the infiltration of

4408-429: The lander elements (ascent and descent/transfer) on an SLS Block 1B. If an independent transfer element is required, it can be launched on a commercial launcher". George Abbey , a former director of NASA's Johnson Space Center , said, "The Gateway is, in essence, building a space station to orbit a natural space station, namely the Moon. [...] If we are going to return to the Moon, we should go directly there, not build

4484-623: The lunar surface and back. Architect René Waclavicek, who was involved with the design of the I-HAB module, noted the difficulty of designing a comfortable living quarter for astronauts visiting Gateway. His team was forced to shrink the size of the module to the point where its diameter is just 1.2 meters (4 feet), owing to the limited amount of weight current launch vehicles can carry to Lunar orbit and other technical limits. Additionally, most of I-HAB's 8 cubic meters (280 cubic feet) of available space will be filled with life support equipment, leaving

4560-443: The lunar surface", reducing the time delay. His final opinion was that the Gateway is "a great way to spend a great deal of money, advancing science and humanity in no appreciable way". On 10 December 2018, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said at a presentation "There are people who say we need to get there, and we need to get there tomorrow", speaking of a crewed mission to the Moon, countering with "What we're doing here at NASA

4636-405: The lunar surface, controlling Canadarm3 , and monitoring docking spacecraft. The module features two docking ports, meaning that once it docks to the HALO module , resupply craft and other vessels can dock to ESPRIT. These can include future propellant tankers to further refuel Gateway if needed. The ERM also features batteries and small surface-mounted solar panels to power the module on its way to

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4712-633: The most comprehensive record of the composition of any Solar System body besides the Earth. The numbers of lunar meteorites are growing quickly in the last few years – as of April 2008 there are 54 meteorites that have been officially classified as lunar. Eleven of these are from the US Antarctic meteorite collection, 6 are from the Japanese Antarctic meteorite collection and the other 37 are from hot desert localities in Africa, Australia, and

4788-481: The need for a big, complex space station". Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel wrote an article in Forbes titled "NASA's Idea For A Space Station In Lunar Orbit Takes Humanity Nowhere". Siegel stated that "Orbiting the Moon represents barely incremental progress; the only scientific "advantages" to being in lunar orbit as opposed to low Earth orbit are twofold: 1. You're outside of the Van Allen belts . 2. You're closer to

4864-478: The opportunity for a gradual buildup of capabilities for more complex missions over time. For supporting the first crewed mission to the station ( Artemis IV ) planned for 2028, the Gateway will begin as a minimal space station composed of only two modules: the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO). Both PPE and HALO will be assembled on Earth and launched together on

4940-517: The planetary bodies in the near vicinity of the Earth: the Moon , and the two neighboring planets: Venus and Mars . Of these, the Moon was studied first, using methods developed earlier on the Earth. Planetary geology focuses on celestial objects that exhibit a solid surface or have significant solid physical states as part of their structure. Planetary geology applies geology , geophysics and geochemistry to planetary bodies. Geomorphology studies

5016-467: The rate of new discoveries is very high, partly due to the large number of interplanetary spacecraft currently exploring the Solar System. Planetary science studies observational and theoretical astronomy, geology ( astrogeology ), atmospheric science , and an emerging subspecialty in planetary oceans , called planetary oceanography . This is both an observational and a theoretical science. Observational researchers are predominantly concerned with

5092-469: The resources to make propellant and other useful things are to be found". Retired aerospace engineer Gerald Black wrote in an article on The Space Review stating that the Gateway is "useless for supporting human return to the lunar surface and a lunar base". He added that it was not planned to be used as a rocket fuel depot and that stopping at the Gateway on the way to or from the Moon would serve no useful purpose and cost propellant. Mark Whittington,

5168-488: The return to Earth would be similar in terms of trip duration and Δ v requirement if the spacecraft spends 11 days at the Gateway. The crewed mission duration of 21 days and Δ v ≈ 840 m/s is limited by the capabilities of the Orion life support and propulsion systems. Gateway will be the first modular space station to be both human-rated, and autonomously operating most of the time in its early years, as well as being

5244-644: The risk of stranding a crew, whether on the surface or in lunar orbit, for days at a time. Clive Neal, a University of Notre Dame geologist and advocate for the lunar exploration program, called the Gateway "a waste of money" and stated that NASA is "not fulfilling space policy by building an orbital space station around the Moon". Former NASA Associate Administrator Doug Cooke wrote in an article on The Hill stating, "NASA can significantly increase speed, simplicity, cost and probability of mission success by deferring Gateway, leveraging SLS, and reducing critical mission operations". He also wrote, "NASA should launch

5320-480: The study of the small bodies of the Solar System: those that are observed by telescopes, both optical and radio, so that characteristics of these bodies such as shape, spin, surface materials and weathering are determined, and the history of their formation and evolution can be understood. Theoretical planetary astronomy is concerned with dynamics : the application of the principles of celestial mechanics to

5396-667: The system will be able to communicate with two different targets (including spacecraft landing on the Moon or operating around Gateway) at once in S- or K-band radio frequencies. ESA now refers to the ESPRIT HLCS as Lunar Link . The ESPRIT Refueling Module (ERM) will contain the propellant tanks, docking ports, and a small windowed habitation corridor. The interior of the module will primarily be used for storage, although it will feature one workstation for astronaut use and six windows. The workstation and windows will be useful for photographing

5472-701: The teams presented their projects in person in June 2019 at the RASC-AL Forum in Cocoa Beach, Florida, receiving a US$ 6,000 stipend to participate in the Forum. The "Lunar Exploration and Access to Polar Regions", from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez , was the winning concept. On 27 September 2017, an informal joint statement on cooperation regarding the program between NASA and Russia's Roscosmos

5548-495: The technological improvements gradually produced more detailed lunar geological knowledge. In this scientific process, the main instruments were astronomical optical telescopes (and later radio telescopes ) and finally robotic exploratory spacecraft , such as space probes . The Solar System has now been relatively well-studied, and a good overall understanding of the formation and evolution of this planetary system exists. However, there are large numbers of unsolved questions, and

5624-409: The unresolved planets. In this sense, the original planetary astronomer would be Galileo , who discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter , the mountains on the Moon , and first observed the rings of Saturn , all objects of intense later study. Galileo's study of the lunar mountains in 1609 also began the study of extraterrestrial landscapes: his observation "that the Moon certainly does not possess

5700-430: Was announced that the NextSTEP studies and other ISS partner studies would help to guide the capabilities required of the Gateway's habitation modules. The solar electric Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) of the Gateway was originally a part of the now-canceled Asteroid Redirect Mission . On 7 November 2017, NASA asked the global science community to submit concepts for scientific studies that could take advantage of

5776-639: Was announced. However, in October 2020 Dmitry Rogozin , director general of Roscosmos, said that the program is too “U.S.-centric” for Roscosmos to participate, and in January 2021, Roscosmos announced that it would not participate in the program. As of January 2024, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) plan to participate in

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