Mission type | Habitat, command and control module |
---|---|
Operator | Northrop Grumman / NASA |
Mission duration | 15 years (planned) [1] |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | HALO |
Manufacturer | Thales Alenia Space [2] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | November 2025 (planned) |
Rocket | Falcon Heavy |
Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A |
Contractor | SpaceX |
The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), [3] [4] also called the Minimal Habitation Module (MHM) and formerly known as the Utilization Module, is a scaled-down habitation module as part of the Lunar Gateway. [5] It will be built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. [6] [7] A single Falcon Heavy will launch HALO along with the PPE module and Halo Lunar Communication System, no earlier than 2025. [8]
Several concepts for the initial habitation module of a lunar orbital outpost had been developed under the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships 2 (NextSTEP-2) program. [9] With the 2024 goal set by the Trump administration, NASA acknowledged it needed to leverage this program in order to meet the timelines set. [9] In July 2019, NASA decided to sole source its design for the Minimal Habitation Module of the Lunar Gateway to Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. [9] [10] The motivation to sole source was based on NASA's assessment that Northrop were the only existing NextSTEP-2 contractor with the designs and production capabilities to meet the module requirements and within the set timescale. [9]
Northrop offered a minimalist 6.1-meter (20 feet) by 3-meter (9.8 feet) design based directly on the Enhanced Cygnus, as well as a larger 7-meter (22.9 feet) by 4.4-meter (14.4 feet) design also based on the Cygnus, [6] [11] to the outside of which radial docking ports, body-mounted radiators (BMRs), batteries and communications antennae will be added. Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems opted to build the minimalist design, which offered the advantage of component compatibility and expedited testing of life-support systems on existing Cygnus spacecraft. [12] [13] On 5 June 2020, NASA awarded Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems a $187 million contract to complete the preliminary design of HALO. [14] NASA signed a separate contract with Northrop for the fabrication of the HALO, and for integration with the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), being built by Maxar, for US$935 million. [12] [13]
The HALO will form an initial scaled-down habitation module. Its primary purpose will be to fulfill the life-support requirements of visiting crew on Orion spacecraft and a space to allow preparations for lunar landing departure. [9] [15] It will feature a functional pressurized volume providing sufficient command, control and data handling capabilities, energy storage and power distribution, thermal control, communications and tracking capabilities, two axial and up to two radial docking ports, stowage volume, environmental control and life-support systems to augment the Orion spacecraft and support a crew of four for at least 30 days. [7] The exterior of the HALO module will feature body-mounted radiators (BMRs), batteries and communications antennae will be added. One axial docking port will connect to the International logistics and habitat module (I-HAB) and one radial docking port is allocated for use by the Human Landing System. Batteries will be provided by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). These will provide power to the module prior to the deployment of the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) solar arrays and during occultation of the Sun by the Earth and Moon. [16] The Canadian Space Agency will be providing interfaces and base point for use by Canadarm 3. [16]
HALO will host two scientific packages at launch aimed at improving the understanding of space weather and prediction models. The NASA-built Heliophysics Environmental and Radiation Measurement Experiment Suite and the ESA-built European Radiation Sensors Array (ERSA). [17]
HERMES will explore Earth's interaction with the solar wind and the behavior of the magnetotail. The hope is to build a better understanding on the causes of space-weather variability as driven by the Sun and modulated by the magnetosphere. The experiment Suite has three science goals: determine mechanisms of solar wind mass and energy transport; characterize energy, topology, and ion composition in the deep magnetotail; and establish observational capabilities of an on-board pathfinder payload measuring local space weather to support deep-space and long-term human exploration. [18]
The suite will consist of four instruments. Fluxgate and Magneto-Inductive Magnetometers will measure Magnetic Field Vector. Built and supplied by Goddard Space Flight Center. Principal investigators from University of Michigan and Goddard Space Flight Center. [18]
Miniaturized Electron pRoton Telescope (MERiT) to measure ion flux of energies between 1-190 MeV and electron flux of energies between 0.3 - 9 MeV. Built, supplied and operated by Goddard Space Flight Center. [18]
Electron Electrostatic Analyser (EEA) is an electron spectrometer and will measure flux, density, speed and temperature of lower energy electrons of less than 30 KeV. It is built, supplied and operated by Goddard Space Flight Center. [18]
Solar Prove Analyser (SPAN-I) is an ion spectrometer. It will measure the flux, density, speed, temperature and type of low energy ions with energies less than 40KeV. SPAN-I will be supplied and operated by University of California, Berkeley. [17]
The ESA built European Radiation Sensors Array (ERSA) will measure the effect and impact of the solar wind on astronauts and equipment. The suite will include the Influence sur les Composants Avancés des Radiations de l'Espace (ICARE-NG) to measure ionizing radiation; and the European Active Dosimeter to measure radiation energies. [17]
Pioneer P-3 was intended to be a lunar orbiter probe, but the mission failed shortly after launch. The objectives were to place a highly instrumented probe in lunar orbit, to investigate the environment between the Earth and Moon, and to develop technology for controlling and maneuvering spacecraft from Earth. It was equipped to take images of the lunar surface with a television-like system, estimate the Moon's mass and topography of the poles, record the distribution and velocity of micrometeorites, and study radiation, magnetic fields, and low frequency electromagnetic waves in space. A mid-course propulsion system and injection rocket would have been the first United States self-contained propulsion system capable of operation many months after launch at great distances from Earth and the first U.S. tests of maneuvering a satellite in space.
Cygnus is an expendable American cargo spacecraft developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation but manufactured and launched by Northrop Grumman Space Systems as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It is usually launched by Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket, although three flights were on ULA's Atlas V and three are planned for SpaceX's Falcon 9. It transports supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) following the retirement of the American Space Shuttle. Since August 2000, ISS resupply missions have been regularly flown by the Russian Progress spacecraft, as well as by the European Automated Transfer Vehicle, and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. With the Cygnus spacecraft and the SpaceX Dragon, NASA seeks to increase its partnerships with domestic commercial aviation and aeronautics industry.
The European System Providing Refueling Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT) is a planned 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 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 the ESPRIT module.
NG-10, previously known as OA-10E, is the eleventh flight of the Northrop Grumman uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its tenth flight to the International Space Station under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 17 November 2018, at 09:01:31 UTC. This particular mission is part of an extension of the initial CRS contract that enables NASA to cover the ISS resupply needs until the Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract enters in effect.
Mars Base Camp (MBC) is a crewed Mars laboratory orbiter concept under study that was commissioned by NASA from Lockheed Martin in US. It would use both future and proven concepts as well as the Orion MPCV, also built by Lockheed Martin.
The Deep Space Transport (DST), also called Mars Transit Vehicle, is a crewed interplanetary spacecraft concept by NASA to support science exploration missions to Mars of up to 1,000 days. It would be composed of two elements: an Orion capsule and a propelled habitation module. As of late 2019, the DST is still a concept to be studied, and NASA has not officially proposed the project in an annual U.S. federal government budget cycle. The DST vehicle would depart and return from the Lunar Gateway to be serviced and reused for a new Mars mission.
The Lunar Gateway, or simply Gateway, is the first planned extraterrestrial space station. It will be placed in lunar orbit and is intended to serve as a solar-powered communication hub, science laboratory, and short-term habitation module for government-agency astronauts, as well as a holding area for rovers and other robots. It is a multinational collaborative project involving four of the International Space Station partner agencies: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It is planned to be both the first space station beyond low Earth orbit and the first space station to orbit the Moon.
NG-12, previously known as OA-12, was the thirteenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its twelfth Commercial Resupply Services flight to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. The mission launched on 2 November 2019 at 13:59:47 UTC). This was the first launch of Cygnus under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract.
The Artemis program is a robotic and human Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with six major partner agencies— the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Israel Space Agency (ISA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Major elements of the program include the Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion spacecraft, the Lunar Gateway space station, and the commercial Human Landing Systems. The program's long-term goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to facilitate the feasibility of human missions to Mars.
Artemis 4 is the fourth planned mission of NASA's Artemis program. The mission will launch four astronauts on a Space Launch System rocket and an Orion to the Lunar Gateway and the second lunar landing of the Artemis program.
CAPSTONE is a lunar orbiter that will test and verify the calculated orbital stability planned for the Lunar Gateway space station. The spacecraft is a 12-unit CubeSat that will also test a navigation system that will measure its position relative to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) without relying on ground stations. It was launched on 28 June 2022, arrived in lunar orbit on 14 November 2022, and was scheduled to orbit for six months. On 18 May 2023, it completed its primary mission to orbit in the near-rectilinear halo orbit for six months, but will stay on this orbit, continuing to perform experiments during an enhanced mission phase.
NG-13, previously known as OA-13, was the fourteenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its thirteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 15 February 2020 at 20:21:01 UTC after nearly a week of delays. This is the second launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.
NG-15, previously known as OA-15, was the fifteenth launch of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its fourteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 20 February 2021 at 17:36:50 UTC. This is the fourth launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.
The Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV) was a human spaceflight lunar lander design concept proposed in 2020/21 for the NASA Human Landing System (HLS) component of the Artemis program. Blue Origin was the lead contractor for the multi-element lunar lander that was to include major components from several large US government space contractors including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper Laboratory.
The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), previously known as the Asteroid Redirect Vehicle propulsion system, is a planned solar electric ion propulsion module being developed by Maxar Technologies for NASA. It is one of the major components of the Lunar Gateway. The PPE will allow access to the entire lunar surface and a wide range of lunar orbits and double as a space tug for visiting craft.
Cygnus NG-17, previously known as Cygnus OA-17, was the seventeenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its sixteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 19 February 2022 at 17:40:03 UTC. It was the sixth launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.
NG-18 was the eighteenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its seventeenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contract with NASA. The mission successfully launched on 7 November 2022 at 10:32:42 UTC. This was the seventh launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.
NG-19 is the nineteenth flight of the Northrop Grumman robotic resupply spacecraft Cygnus and its eighteenth flight to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2) contract with NASA. The mission launched on 2 August 2023 at 00:31:14 UTC. This is the eighth launch of Cygnus under the CRS-2 contract.
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The International Habitation Module, International Habitat or I-HAB is designed as a habitat module of the Lunar Gateway station, to be built by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. The I-HAB will have a maximum launch mass of 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) and provide a habitable volume of 10 m3 (350 cu ft).