Cis-lunar Habitation Operations: Has Its Time Come?

A Half-Century of “Gateway” Stepping Stones

Harley Thronson NASA GSFC

55th Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium 9 March 2017

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NASA’s Next STEP Activity: Essential Stepping Stone Beyond LEO

“The next human exploration capabilities needed beyond the

Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule are deep space, long-duration habitation, and in-space propulsion . . .deep space habitats where humans will live and work independently for months or years at a time, without cargo supply deliveries

from Earth.” --- Jason Crusan (NASA HQ HEOMD)

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Early Cis-lunar Operations Arthur C. Clarke (1961)

“brilliant, but eccentric” astronomer in a habitat and operations site at a Lagrange Point rescues stranded lunar surface tourists

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Cis-lunar Development Plan (Arthur C. Clarke (1961)): “brilliant, but eccentric” astronomer at a Lagrange Point rescues

lunar surface tourists

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AGatewayatE-ML1,2WillBetheEnablingSecondStep...toMars

2001

Early 2000s Concepts for E-M L1,2 Habitat/Operations

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Telerobot departs Gateway for the lunar surface

(Habitat concept based on NASA Transhab, Courtesy FISO Team/JF&A; 2006)

Telescope assembly at Gateway (Habitat concept based on NASA Transhab,

Courtesy FISO Team/JF&A; 2006)

CourtesNASA

A Brief History of Beyond-LEO Spaceflight Architecture Development

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1980 1990 2000 2010

LeadershipandAmerica’s

FutureinSpace

NaFonalCommissiononSpace

NASACaseStudies

National A er onautics and Space Administration

Report of the 90-Day Study on Human Explora tion of the Moon and Ma rs

November 1989

AmericaattheThreshold

90-DayStudy

FirstLunarOutpost

MarsDesignReferenceMission1.0 MarsDesign

ReferenceMission3.0

DPT/NEXT

ExploraFonBlueprint

MarsDesignReferenceArchitecture

5.0

ReviewofU.S.HumanSpaceflight

PlansCommiXee

Challenger

ConstellaFonProgram

LunarArchitecture

Team

GlobalExploraFonRoadmapExploraFon

SystemArchitecture

Study

Bush41Speech Bush43

Speech

Columbia

ObamaSpeech

HumanJourneytoMars–

ThoughtsonanExecutable

Program(JPL)

EvolvableMars

Campaign

PathwaystoExploraFon

6 Courtesy: A.Riley/NASA

NASA’s Next STEP Activity: Essential Stepping Stone Beyond LEO

“The next human exploration capabilities needed beyond the

Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion capsule are deep space, long-duration habitation, and in-space propulsion . . .deep space habitats where humans will live and work independently for months or years at a time, without cargo supply deliveries

from Earth.” --- Jason Crusan (NASA HQ HEOMD)

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