NASA begins moon return effort

[wvbraun]

Interesting article by Frank Sietzen: Link<br /><br /><br /><i> "We are thinking in terms of two-person teams for EVAs," he explained. EVAs, or spacewalks, would be designed around a minimum of two astronauts outside at a time. Studies will also determine by the end of this year if the CEV and the lunar lander will be separate spacecraft, or if they can be combined into a single ship. The current thinking by mission planners is attempting a single lunar landing per year, starting no later than 2020, but perhaps as early as 2017.</i><br /><br />[... ]<br /><br /><i> "These first missions would follow a minimalist approach," Lembeck said. They might employ separate transfer and landing systems, carrying the spaceship elements together until moon orbit, as did Apollo, then detaching for landing at relatively safe locations along the moon's equator. Astronauts would then stay on the surface for up to a week's duration.<br /><br />The second wave of flights would be more complex. The elements for the flight actually might be assembled at the L-1 point -- the Lagrange point, about 200,000 miles up, at which the gravitational influences of the Earth and the moon cancel each other out.<br /><br />Following assembly at L-1, the craft then would embark toward the moon, following a flight path that would cover virtually all of the moon's regions and allowing landings in more scientifically interesting, but more potentially hazardous, locales. Stay times would also average as long as a week.<br /><br />The third wave would consist of the most ambitious missions currently being considered. These would require the most capable CEVs and landers, with their components assembled either in low Earth orbit or at L-1. The ships would land at the moon's poles, establish base camps, and stay 45 days and longer. These outposts then would become the first U.S. lunar bases. </i>

 

[wvbraun]

NASA Issues Call For Moon, Mars And Beyond Technologies<br /><br /><br />NASA is finally warming to the idea of artificial gravity:<br /><br /><i>As a method to help thwart the effects of long-duration microgravity on the human body, NASA is now in the market for "structural concepts for artificial gravity systems".<br /><br /> "To minimize the degradation of human performance on long-duration missions, crew transport vehicles will need artificial gravity systems," declares the NASA BAA. Artificial gravity systems use rotation to generate up to 1-g of centrifugal acceleration.<br /><br /> The space agency is looking for structural concepts for artificial gravity systems, including long deployable trusses and tethers that can hold together while spinning through interplanetary space. Such systems should also include methods to control rotation rate and structural dynamics.</i>