Japan budgets a record $4.14 billion for space activities, a good portion of which supporting Artemis, Lunar Gateway
Of 51.4 billion yen earmarked to fund Japan’s participation in the NASA’s Artemis program, 37 billion yen will be used to develop a new space station resupply vehicle dubbed HTV-X. Some 6.1 billion yen will be used to develop technologies for the lunar Gateway, a planned small space station in lunar orbit intended to serve as a solar-powered communications hub, science laboratory, short-term habitation module and holding area for rovers and other robots.The budget documents also state while 3.4 billion yen will be used to develop the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM), a lunar lander being developed by JAXA, 2.8 billion yen will be invested in the Lunar Polar Exploration (LUPEX), a joint project between JAXA and its Indian counterpart, the Indian Space Research Organisation, aimed at exploring the moon’s south pole in 2023.
Internal radiation payload approved for the Gateway:https://blogs.esa.int/exploration/internal-radiation-payload-approved-for-the-gateway/
Lunar Gateway will maintain its orbit with a 6 kW ion engine:https://phys-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/phys.org/news/2021-04-lunar-gateway-orbit-kw-ion.amp
The PPE project is tracking several technologies that will need to mature before the project’s preliminary design review, including the solar electric propulsion system thrusters. Our best practices work has shown that achieving a technology readiness level 6 by this review can minimize risks for projects moving forward. However, the PPE project does not expect the thruster technology to be mature until after this review. The PPE project will fund and provide three flight thrusters to the PPE contractor as government furnished equipment. The SEP project will manage the contract for the flight thrusters, but the SEP contractor efforts to develop the propulsion technology are significantly behind schedule. Project officials stated that receiving the SEP thrusters in time for integration and testing is one of the largest risks to the project’s schedule.
We are proud to be part of the groundbreaking HALO program!Press Release 5/21/21-
Paragon is responsible for the design and implementation of the HALO Environment Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The ECLSS provides a comfortable, shirt-sleeve environment for the visiting crew members during their stay at the Lunar Gateway. This includes maintenance of the air and temperature as well as safe levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, humidity and trace contaminants.
3.3 INTO THE PROVING GROUND (AND ON TO MARS)Prior to Artemis, the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) released several Level 1 documents which lay out objectives, concept of operations, and utilization plans pertaining to EVA through crewed missions to Mars.Per the paper entitled ISS, SLS, Orion: Into The Proving Ground presented by the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Associate Administrator at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia in September 2017, the current long term goal for NASA is a crewed mission to the Martian system by 2033 with a human landing later in the decade. This led to the release of HEOMD-001 Human Exploration and Operations Exploration Objectives document, and the high level description of the phases of exploration.The goal of landing humans on the surface of Mars will be accomplished through five phases. Phase 0, involves continuing to use the ISS for research and as a testbed. Per the IAC 2017 paper, the remaining phases are as follows:[Phase 1: Gateway]In Phase 1, NASA will use the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Orion capsule in the early and mid-2020s to deploy a Deep Space Gateway in cislunar space, comprising a habitation and in-space propulsion capability. In-space power and propulsion, including solar electric propulsion, and deep space habitation are central to future human exploration. Development and deployment of these capabilities will be a focus of the early-to-mid 2020s. The Gateway provides a space infrastructure enabling missions—NASA, commercial, and international—to a variety of destinations, including the surface of the Moon. It will be the next step in expanding human presence into the solar system.[Phase 2: Deep Space Transport]Phase 2, in the mid-to-late 2020s, will see NASA using the SLS, Orion, and the Gateway to outfit the Deep Space Transport, which will be used to fly crews to the Martian system in the 2030s. The Deep Space Transport will be launched without fuel and supplies in single SLS launch. The fuel, supplies, and outfitting will occur over a series of SLS and Orion missions. The Deep Space Transport can benefit from the avionics and computer systems being developed for Orion. The Transport represents not only the realization of a robust habitation capability that will keep crews healthy on two-year Mars missions, but also the development of a reliable propulsion system that will be used to fly crews safely across interplanetary distances, and then back to the Earth-Moon system. The Deep Space Transport will be reusable for multiple missions and can be maintained at the Gateway. Phase 2 will culminate in a crewed one-year shakedown cruise or verification mission aboard the Deep Space Transport in cislunar space to validate its readiness to conduct missions beyond the Earth-Moon system. At this point, we will have the knowledge and the infrastructure in place for the voyage to the Martian system.[Phase 3: Phobos in 2033]In Phase 3, NASA will conduct humanity’s first missions to another planet, with the initial crewed flight of the Deep Space Transport to the Martian system in 2033, and a potential rendezvous with the Martian moon Phobos. Astronauts will thus gain experience with interplanetary spaceflight and operations, and will fully utilize the cislunar infrastructure that has been developed to support such missions. [Phase 4: Mars in 2030s]During the decade of the 2030s and beyond, in Phase 4 NASA will develop and deploy the systems to land cargo and crews on Mars, sustain crews on the surface, and return them safely to Martian orbit, where they will re-board the Deep Space Transport for the journey back to the Deep Space Gateway, and then home to Earth.
This document is related to spacesuits but it interesting because it lays the plans for Gateway:Quote from: Page 42 of the document3.3 INTO THE PROVING GROUND (AND ON TO MARS)[Phase 2: Deep Space Transport]Phase 2, in the mid-to-late 2020s, will see NASA using the SLS, Orion, and the Gateway to outfit the Deep Space Transport, which will be used to fly crews to the Martian system in the 2030s. The Deep Space Transport will be launched without fuel and supplies in single SLS launch. The fuel, supplies, and outfitting will occur over a series of SLS and Orion missions.
3.3 INTO THE PROVING GROUND (AND ON TO MARS)[Phase 2: Deep Space Transport]Phase 2, in the mid-to-late 2020s, will see NASA using the SLS, Orion, and the Gateway to outfit the Deep Space Transport, which will be used to fly crews to the Martian system in the 2030s. The Deep Space Transport will be launched without fuel and supplies in single SLS launch. The fuel, supplies, and outfitting will occur over a series of SLS and Orion missions.
Lueders: working on finalizing fixed price contract with Northrop Grumman for HALO with delivery at end of 2024, looking at launch then or early 2025.
Behold Brand new renderings of the Gateway, an orbital outpost around the Moon that provides vital support for #Artemis astronauts on their way to the lunar surface, have been added to the library! View the new 4k images:
Pending Artemis III mission decision. A senior NASA official stated that NASA will likely not make a decision on whether it will use the Gateway for the Artemis III mission until summer 2021, leaving limited time to account for potential mission and program requirements changes before a 2024 launch. [...] In the meantime, the Gateway program continues to work towards the 2024 date.According to NASA officials, the decision whether to use the Gateway in 2024 hinges on two factors: 1) Gateway program progress and risks due in part to the co-manifested launch and 2) the concept of operations for the HLS that NASA selects, which may plan to dock directly with Orion rather than with the Gateway for the Artemis III mission.[29][29] In April 2021, while a draft of this report was with NASA for review and comment, NASA announced that it selected SpaceX as the contractor to develop the lunar lander for the Artemis III mission. We were not able to assess SpaceX’s planned design or concept of operations for this report.
The Gateway is a central component of the agency’s goals towards creating a sustainable lunar presence. According to NASA’s September 2020 Artemis Plan, the purpose of the Gateway is to provide a staging point for human and robotic lunar missions and support sustainable lunar missions by the mid to late 2020s. Using the Gateway will facilitate longer expeditions on the Moon and potentially multiple trips to the lunar surface during a single mission. In addition, the Gateway will allow NASA to demonstrate how a human Mars mission may work in the future.
