NASA Considering Six Month Lunar Missions
(Hat Tip: Universe Today)
Despite the fact that Moon is only three days away by rockets, NASA may be pondering about whether or not to establish a “long term” presence on the Moon via 6 month lunar missions.
(Physorg.com) The US space agency hopes to build moon bases that can house astronauts for stays of up to six months, with an intricate transportation and power system, Carl Walz, director of NASA’s Advanced Capabilities Division, said Friday.
NASA is examining different designs for lunar outposts but that they could be inspired by the orbiting International Space Station (ISS), he said.
“We need to establish a long, extended presence on the moon, up to six months — same as the time we spend at ISS,” Walz, a veteran astronaut, told AFP during a forum on the future of NASA at the University of Miami.
“I would anticipate that we would build something similar as what we are building for the ISS, but maybe something different,” he said.
Whether NASA pursues using inflatable space bases or nomadic ones, a six month stay on the Moon could ultimately open up the door for Mars 30 years from now.
While NASA’s means of accomplishing this lunar goal may be subject to debate (hat tip: Space Transport News), at least the agency is at least heading in the right direction (as exploring these worlds in person is better than glimpsing at them from afar).
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I heard a while back that Bigelow Aerospace was thinking about assembling inflatables in space and then plopping the whole assembled moonbase down after it was assembled. That could be seriously handy to be able to setup shop from more accessable space.
Hey John,
Bigelow is actually seriously considering this, and last I heard they were trying to work out the details of actually digging holes in the vacuum of space with only 1/6th Earth gravity to work with.
~Darnell
PS
I just realized your blog was not on my blog roll, despite the fact that I’ve subscribed to your site. Fortunately I had to remedy that problem.
Thank you kindly. Our voices on the net are like embers in a fire, or I guess I could say that they are like unstable heavy atoms in a space nuclear rocket. The tighter we are, the hotter!
I’ve got to do some serious rework of my links as well. Thanks for the nod
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