NASA, Japanese Authorities, Formalizes Gateway Partnership for Artemis Program – What’s Up With This?
From NASA
January 12, 2021 PUBLICATION 21-003
Illustration of the gateway in the lunar orbit with contributions from international partners. Credits: NASA
NASA and the Japanese government have reached an agreement for the Moon Gate, a revolving outpost that commercial and international partners will jointly build. This agreement strengthens the United States’ extensive efforts to attract international partners under the Artemis program for sustainable lunar exploration and to demonstrate the technologies required for human missions to Mars.
Under this agreement, Japan will provide various functions for the Gateway’s International Habitation Module (I-Hab), which will provide the heart of the Gateway’s life support functions and additional space for the crew to live, work and research in during Artemis missions . The planned contributions of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) include the I-Hab environmental control and life support system, batteries, heat control and imaging components which will be integrated into the module by the European Space Agency (ESA) prior to launch. These functions are essential for continued gateway operation during crewed and unmanned periods.
“We are honored to announce this latest agreement with Japan in support of long-term human exploration on and around the moon under the Artemis program,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “By strengthening our international partnerships and commitments to Artemis, humanity is on a solid path toward achieving our shared goals of sustainable lunar exploration by the end of this decade.”
Under an agreement with Northrop Grumman, Japan will also provide batteries for the gateway’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), the first crew cabin for astronauts visiting the gateway. In addition, Japan is investigating improvements to its HTV-X spaceship for replenishment of cargo that could result in its being used to replenish gateway logistics.
“Leveraging the capabilities that international partners contribute to Gateway will be key to providing access to the lunar surface,” said Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission directorate at NASA headquarters. “We are excited to continue this groundbreaking effort with Japan and our other partners.”
The agreement also marks NASA’s intention to provide manning facilities for the gateway to Japanese astronauts, which will be determined after additional discussion and documented in a future agreement.
The gateway is roughly one-sixth the size of the International Space Station and will serve as a meeting point for astronauts traveling into lunar orbit aboard NASA’s Orion rocket and the Space Launch System rocket before entering and into low moon orbit Get lunar surface. From the gateway, NASA and its partners will use this moon viewpoint as a stepping stone for robot and human expeditions to the moon and on to Mars.
“The capabilities provided by Japan are critical to enabling the gateway’s interior environment so our crews can live and work longer,” said Dan Hartman, gateway program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “With the life support systems from Japan, longer-lasting missions can be carried out for the Artemis crews with reduced demands on logistical supply.”
NASA astronauts will board a commercially developed lander for the final leg of the journey to the lunar surface. The agency has signed a contract with the US industry for the development of the first two gateway components, the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the HALO, as a logistical supply for the gateway.
Japan, along with two other international partners, is committed to the gateway with NASA. In November 2020, the US and Canada signed a collaboration agreement on the gateway. CSA’s planned contributions include the outpost’s external robotic system, robotic interfaces, and end-to-end robotic operations. In October 2020, NASA and ESA signed an agreement consolidating ESA’s contributions to the gateway. This includes the provision of the I-Hab module and the tank modules by ESA as well as improved lunar communication.
In March 2020, NASA selected the first two scientific studies to be carried out on board the gateway, one from NASA and one from ESA. NASA’s international partners and Gateway will work together to share the scientific data that will be transmitted to Earth. In the future, additional scientific payloads will be selected to fly aboard the outpost.
In addition to supporting scientific research carried out by robotic and human lunar surface missions, the gateway supports activities aimed at testing the technologies needed for human missions to Mars. For example, NASA will use the gateway to demonstrate the remote management and long-term reliability of autonomous spacecraft systems and other technologies.
For more information on NASA’s gateway program, visit:
https://nasa.gov/gateway
For more information on NASA’s Artemis program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
-The End-
Like this:
Loading…
Comments are closed.