On Thursday, space.com reported that Nasa could soon unveil ambitious plans for a return to the Moon. The mission would not be to the surface but to a gravitational sweet spot behind the Moon that offers free parking for spacecraft.
Known as a Lagrangian point, such balance points occur naturally because of the interplay of Earth's gravitational field with the Moon's. To send a mission there would allow Nasa to test its Orion Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle in deep space before committing it to longer missions, such as Obama's plan to send astronauts to an asteroid by 2025.
While Thursday's news story focused exclusively on this being a Nasa effort, in reality the cash-strapped space agency will want to collaborate with partners from around the world. In a memo from February, againreported by space.com, Nasa talked about incorporating significant international participation.
Most likely this will be with their partners in the International Space Station, and that places the European Space Agency near the top of the list.
There are a number of ways Esa could be involved. The path ahead should become clearer soon, through decisions that will be taken at a ministerial meeting in Italy, on 20-21 November. This involves representatives from all of Esa's member countries (or states as they like to refer to them) and will define the agency's goals for the coming years.
A key discussion will be about the development of Europe's space freighter, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).
To participate in the International Space Station, Esa is providing five expendable ATVs. Three have been launched so far and another two are currently being readied for flight. But, what next for all the expertise and hardware that has been developed?
Read the rest here.
No comments:
Post a Comment