NASA details how Artemis missions prepare us for Mars
/While some of the near-term details of the Artemis program have yet to be finalized, it appears NASA is well on its way toward formalizing a plan for sustainable lunar and Mars exploration after the agency’s initial surface stay planned for 2024.
Phase 1 of the Artemis program is about getting back to the Moon as soon as possible to land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface. Phase 2 is geared toward sustainability as well as proving out deep space technologies needed for eventual crewed missions to Mars.
“After 20 years of continuously living in low Earth orbit, we’re now ready for the next great challenge of space exploration – the development of a sustained presence on and around the Moon,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in an agency news release. “For years to come, Artemis will serve as our North Star as we continue to work toward even greater exploration of the Moon, where we will demonstrate key elements needed for the first human mission to Mars.”
According to a recently published document, NASA outlined its plans to expand the Lunar Gateway, as well as lunar surface infrastructure, to ultimately enable “Mars mission analogs” in cislunar space.
While the Lunar Gateway is likely to be taken out of the critical path for the planned 2024 Artemis 3 mission, which is currently tasked with sending the first people to the Moon’s surface since 1972, the deep space outpost is still a key piece of infrastructure for the Artemis program.
Other components planned for Phase 2 include a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (likely similar to the unpressurized rovers used on the Moon during Apollos 15-17), a habitable mobility platform (a pressurized long-distance rover) and a foundational surface habitat.
All three of these surface elements would be part of Artemis Base Camp, located near the Moon’s south pole.
“Artemis Base Camp will be our first sustainable foothold on the lunar frontier,” the NASA document reads. “We will initially move to one to two-month stays to learn more about the Moon and the universe. We will develop new technologies that advance our national industries and discover new resources that will help grow our economy.”
NASA says other supporting infrastructure would be added over time. This includes communications equipment, power, radiation shielding, a landing pad, waste disposal and storage planning.
Critically, the agency said “these elements comprise a sustained capability on the Moon that can be revisited and built upon over the coming decades.”
Meanwhile, the Lunar Gateway is expected to start off with just two modules. A Power and Propulsion Element — to be built by Maxar Technologies — and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost — to be built by Northrop Grumman.
During the years following Artemis 3 and 4, the Gateway is expected to be expanded to include an international habitat, a Canadian robotic arm and an expanded habitation capability for Mars mission dress rehearsals.
During this time, Gateway is expected to be resupplied by commercial companies. The first company to receive a Gateway Logistics Services contract was SpaceX, which is also sending cargo — and soon crew — to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit.
SpaceX’s expendable “Dragon XL” is expected to launch atop a Falcon Heavy rocket to deliver up to five metric tons to the Lunar Gateway.
“Returning to the Moon and supporting future space exploration requires affordable delivery of significant amounts of cargo,” said SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell in a March 27 NASA news release. “Through our partnership with NASA, SpaceX has been delivering scientific research and critical supplies to the International Space Station since 2012, and we are honored to continue the work beyond Earth’s orbit and carry Artemis cargo to Gateway.”
Once the basic infrastructure is in place and the technology is ready, NASA anticipates conducting Mars mission analogs. The agency said this would involve a crew of four traveling to the expanded Lunar Gateway, likely sometime in the late 2020s or early 2030s, for a multi-month stay at the outpost to simulate a journey to Mars.
After the multi-month “outbound” simulation, a crew of two would land at Artemis Base Camp to explore the surface and perform scientific research.
At the end of their surface stay, the two-person crew would return to the Gateway to begin another multi-month “inbound” simulation before finally returning to Earth.
NASA said this analog mission would “be by far the longest duration human deep space missions in history” and be the first tests of long-duration deep space equipment as well as split-crew operations.
The agency said the evolved Lunar Gateway is key to beginning a “methodical lengthening of mission durations” and “to test risk mitigation approaches for long-duration mission crew and element systems” that are expected to be needed for trips to Mars or other deep space destinations.
Once Mars missions actually begin, however, NASA stresses that the mission at the Moon is not complete. The agency still anticipates testing new technologies and continuing scientific research at Artemis Base Camp while waiting for Mars launch windows, which open up roughly every 26 months.
“We will continue to explore the Moon indefinitely,” NASA’s sustainability planning document reads, “leveraging robotic deliveries provided by [Commercial Lunar Payload Services] providers, longer duration human missions, and commercial and international partnerships that will add to the Artemis Base Camp elements NASA puts into place.”
