people to low Earth orbit on privately developed spacecraft. By 2025, the new
Dragon V2
17
reusable spaceships of SpaceX, and Orion
18
of Boeing Corporation –
both funded by NASA – will be fully tested and operational and will constitute the
fleet of modern vehicles for American astronauts.
It is no coincidence that in line with these trends, NASA is now investing in
the Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway program
19
to launch an autonomous orbital
outpost around the Moon
20
on which to test operations in deep space with both
robots and astronauts. It can be envisaged a scenario in which the US will
employ reusable rockets, drones and modern manned spaceships between Earth
and lunar orbit, where one or more automatic stations, much smaller than the
current ISS, will be permanently stationed.
One might wonder why such a project should be successful today while in the
recent past, other initiatives, such as Bush’s Constellation or Obama’s Asteroid
Redirect Mission,
21
have never been implemented. The answer was provided by
Vice President Mike Pence, who during a 2018 meeting at the Johnson Space
Center stated:
NASA is developing a new heavy-lift rocket, the Saturn V-class launch system, to carry Orion capsules to the moon and beyond and soliciting designs
from aerospace contractors for a small space station, or Gateway that will be
built in lunar orbit. It is intended to serve as a base for research and a stepping stone for eventual landings and fights into deep space. The need is real.
China is aggressively weaponizing space. Russia, too, is developing and testing new and dangerous weapons and technologies to counter America’s
space capabilities. Our administration is committed to keep America ahead
of our adversaries in this critical domain.
22
According to NASA itself, which is required to carry this vision out, the political heart of the Artemis project is to reaffirm US dominance in space around and
on the Moon. And of course, NASA does not exclude that private commercial
systems could become partners in the project.
The technological heart of the project is made up of three elements: the SLS
rocket, the Orion spaceship and the LOP-G, which we looked at briefly in the last
17
https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-partner-spacex-unveils-human-carrying-dragon-v2/.
18
https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html.
19
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-will-seek-partnership-with-us-industry-to-develop-firstgateway-element.
20
Lockheed Martin. Look Inside NASA Deep Space Gateway. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=_gFnrjtl79I.
21
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/initiative/index.html.
22
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pence-rallies-space-workers-with-visions-of-moon-missions/.
Mars: Next Stop? 125
Dragon V2
17
reusable spaceships of SpaceX, and Orion
18
of Boeing Corporation –
both funded by NASA – will be fully tested and operational and will constitute the
fleet of modern vehicles for American astronauts.
It is no coincidence that in line with these trends, NASA is now investing in
the Lunar Orbital Platform Gateway program
19
to launch an autonomous orbital
outpost around the Moon
20
on which to test operations in deep space with both
robots and astronauts. It can be envisaged a scenario in which the US will
employ reusable rockets, drones and modern manned spaceships between Earth
and lunar orbit, where one or more automatic stations, much smaller than the
current ISS, will be permanently stationed.
One might wonder why such a project should be successful today while in the
recent past, other initiatives, such as Bush’s Constellation or Obama’s Asteroid
Redirect Mission,
21
have never been implemented. The answer was provided by
Vice President Mike Pence, who during a 2018 meeting at the Johnson Space
Center stated:
NASA is developing a new heavy-lift rocket, the Saturn V-class launch system, to carry Orion capsules to the moon and beyond and soliciting designs
from aerospace contractors for a small space station, or Gateway that will be
built in lunar orbit. It is intended to serve as a base for research and a stepping stone for eventual landings and fights into deep space. The need is real.
China is aggressively weaponizing space. Russia, too, is developing and testing new and dangerous weapons and technologies to counter America’s
space capabilities. Our administration is committed to keep America ahead
of our adversaries in this critical domain.
22
According to NASA itself, which is required to carry this vision out, the political heart of the Artemis project is to reaffirm US dominance in space around and
on the Moon. And of course, NASA does not exclude that private commercial
systems could become partners in the project.
The technological heart of the project is made up of three elements: the SLS
rocket, the Orion spaceship and the LOP-G, which we looked at briefly in the last
17
https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-partner-spacex-unveils-human-carrying-dragon-v2/.
18
https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html.
19
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-will-seek-partnership-with-us-industry-to-develop-firstgateway-element.
20
Lockheed Martin. Look Inside NASA Deep Space Gateway. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=_gFnrjtl79I.
21
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/initiative/index.html.
22
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pence-rallies-space-workers-with-visions-of-moon-missions/.
Mars: Next Stop? 125