Long-term Lunar Landings: Deeper Exploration of the Moon
NASA award contract for the building of habitation for astronauts in lunar orbit.
NASA’s Artemis program, the sister of the Apollo missions, is described as “Humanity’s return to the Moon”. In this, NASA aims to put people and robots onto the moon to learn even more from the lunar surface; carry out further research and access more resources. Excitingly, Artemis will not only put people on the moon but put them there long term to carry out more prolonged experiments and send astronauts frequently. The moon is not the final objective of the mission either, it is merely a stepping stone for the more distant objectives: human Mars landings and deep space exploration. There are many ground-breaking aspects of Artemis. The missions will boast the first woman on the moon; the first person of colour on the moon; access to many new resources; and finally the first habitation in lunar orbit.
The habitation will be on board the Gateway. This is a satellite that will allow for sustainable, long-term human returns to the moon. In addition, the Gateway could also be used as a stop off point for deep space exploration missions. In order to act as this Moon Motel, where astronauts can stop off mid journey, the Gateway will have two main elements for now: HALO and PPE.
PPE is the Power and Propulsion Element which is being built by Maxar Technologies. This is a 60 Kilowatt solar electric propulsion craft that is extremely high power. Being three times more powerful than current capabilities, it will allow the Gateway to provide a relay to the lunar surface and transport astronauts for expeditions.
The Habitation And Logistics Output (HALO) will be the crew cabin for astronauts onboard Gateway which provides basic life support. It will have a multitude of functions which include command; control; data handling capabilities; energy storage; power distribution; thermal control; communications; tracking capabilities; environmental control; and life support systems. As well as this, HALO will have several docking ports for the future as NASA aim to send multiple deep space missions as well as Mars and Moon crafts too which could all visit the Gateway. Space for science and stowage is also required for the astronauts that will live in HALO.
Such a vast and diverse range of functions will make the HALO incredibly difficult and complicated to engineer so the choice of who to contract in its design and build was incredibly important. NASA have selected Northrop Grumman to take on the $935 million job. This is a business giant that specialises in defence and aerospace. They’re forward leaning, pioneering spirit have already made them industry leaders in global security as well as space discovery. Such an impressive standing in the space markets will be what has led NASA to trust Northrop Grumman with the project.
HALO and PPE are due to be launched in 2023. They will be the first components of the lunar Gateway with future modules possibly being added in the future. Artemis will be the next step in utilising the vastness of resources in space that we don’t have access to just yet and placing Northrop Grumman in charge of HALO is the next step toward seeing Artemis in action.
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NASA: Long-Term Lunar Landings: Deeper Exploration of the Moon: NASA inatoa mkataba wa ujenzi wa makazi kwa ajili ya wanaanga katika mzunguko wa mwezi Programu ya Artemis ya NASA, dada ya misheni ya Apollo, inaelezwa kama "kurudi kwa ubinadamu kwenye Mwezi". NASA inakusudia kuweka watu na roboti kwenye mwezi ili kujifunza zaidi kutoka kwa uso wa mwezi; kufanya utafiti zaidi na kupata rasilimali zaidi. Artemis haitaweka watu tu kwenye Mwezi lakini itawaweka huko kwa muda mrefu kufanya majaribio ya muda mrefu na kutuma wanaanga mara kwa mara. Mwezi sio lengo la mwisho la safari hii, ni hatua ya kwanza tu ya kufikia malengo ya mbali zaidi: kutua kwa binadamu kwenye sayari ya Mars na kuchunguza anga la mbali. Kuna mambo mengi ya kipekee kuhusu Artemi. "Misheni hiyo itahusisha mwanamke wa kwanza kwenye mwezi, mtu wa kwanza wa rangi kwenye mwezi, upatikanaji wa rasilimali nyingi mpya, na hatimaye makazi ya kwanza katika mzunguko wa mwezi.""" Makao yatakuwa kwenye lango. Hii ni satelaiti ambayo itaruhusu kurudi kwa binadamu kwa muda mrefu kwenye mwezi. Kwa kuongezea, Lango la Mlango pia linaweza kutumiwa kama kituo cha kuacha kwa misheni ya uchunguzi wa anga ya mbali. Ili kuwa kama hoteli ya mwezi, ambapo wanaanga wanaweza kuacha katikati ya safari, Gateway itakuwa na vipengele viwili kuu kwa sasa: HALO na PPE. PPE ni nguvu na propulsion kipengele ambayo ni kujengwa na Maxar Technologies. Hii ni 60 kW solar propulsion craft ambayo ni nguvu ya juu sana. "Kuwa na nguvu mara tatu kuliko uwezo wa sasa, itawezesha ""Lango"" kutoa relay kwa uso wa mwezi na kusafirisha wanaanga kwa ajili ya safari." HALO (Habitation and Logistics Output) ni chumba cha wafanyakazi wa anga cha juu ambacho kinaweza kuandaa huduma za msingi za maisha. "Kama ilivyoelezwa, ""kitengo hiki kitakuwa na kazi nyingi ambazo ni pamoja na amri, udhibiti, uwezo wa kushughulikia data, kuhifadhi nishati, usambazaji wa nguvu, udhibiti wa joto, mawasiliano, uwezo wa kufuatilia, udhibiti wa mazingira, na mifumo ya msaada wa maisha.""" HALO itakuwa na bandari kadhaa za docking kwa siku zijazo, kwani NASA inakusudia kutuma misheni nyingi za anga ya ndani na pia Mars na Moon craft ambazo zote zinaweza kutembelea Gateway. Nafasi ya sayansi na kuhifadhi pia inahitajika kwa wanarafiki ambao wataishi katika HALO. """Utaratibu huu mkubwa na mbalimbali wa kazi utafanya HALO kuwa ngumu sana na ngumu kuunda, kwa hivyo chaguo la nani kuajiri katika kubuni na kujenga ilikuwa muhimu sana." NASA imechagua kampuni ya Northrop Grumman kuchukua kazi hiyo ya dola milioni 935. Hii ni kampuni kubwa ya biashara ambayo ni maalumu katika ulinzi na anga. Wao ni mbele leaning, roho ya upainia tayari alifanya yao viongozi wa sekta katika usalama wa kimataifa kama vile uvumbuzi wa nafasi. Kwa sababu ya nafasi yake kubwa katika soko la anga, NASA imempa Northrop Grumman jukumu la mradi huo. HALO na PPE zinatarajiwa kuzinduliwa mnamo 2023. Vifaa hivyo vitakuwa sehemu ya kwanza ya Mfereji wa Mwezi na moduli za baadaye zinaweza kuongezwa baadaye. """Artemis itakuwa hatua inayofuata katika kutumia rasilimali nyingi katika nafasi ambayo hatuna upatikanaji wa sasa hivi, na kuweka Northrop Grumman katika jukumu la HALO ni hatua inayofuata kuelekea kuona Artemis katika hatua." Kujiunga na Blog Kujiunga kwa habari za hivi karibuni za teknolojia, kubuni na sekta moja kwa moja kwenye sanduku lako la barua. Timu yetu ya UX inabuni uzoefu wa wateja na bidhaa za dijiti ambazo watumiaji wako watapenda.