NASA Planning Deep-Space Outpost Near the Moon. NASA to announce new manned moon missions? NASA May Unveil New Manned Moon Missions Soon. NASA is serious about sending astronauts back to the moon's neighborhood and will likely unveil its ambitious plans soon now that President Barack Obama has been re-elected, experts say.
The space agency has apparently been thinking about setting up a manned outpost beyond the moon's far side, both to establish a human presence in deep space and to build momentum toward a planned visit to an asteroid in 2025. The new plans have probably already been cleared with the Obama Administration but have been kept under wraps in case Republican candidate Mitt Romney won Tuesday night's (Nov. 6) presidential election, said space policy expert John Logsdon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University. "NASA has been evolving its thinking, and its latest charts have inserted a new element of cislunar/lunar gateway/Earth-moon L2 sort of stuff into the plan," Logsdon told SPACE.com.
NASA Eyes Plan for Deep-Space Outpost Near the Moon. NASA is pressing forward on assessing the value of a "human-tended waypoint" near the far side of the moon — one that would embrace international partnerships as well as commercial and academic participation, SPACE.com has learned.
According to a Feb. 3 memo from William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, a team is being formed to develop a cohesive plan for exploring a spot in space known as the Earth-moon libration point 2 (EML-2). Libration points, also known as Lagrangian points, are places in space where the combined gravitational pull of two large masses roughly balance each other out, allowing spacecraft to essentially "park" there. A pre-memo NASA appraisal of EML-2, which is near the lunar far side, has spotlighted this destination as the "leading option" for a near-term exploration capability.
Gallery: Visions of Deep Space Stations for Exploration. Far Out! New Deep Space Mission Idea Draws NASA's Eye. This story was updated at 3 p.m.
ET. NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. Could moon outpost propel space travel? Fmr. Astronaut Leroy Chiao weighs in. What if astronauts were to return to the moon?
Decades after man first landed on the moon, Space.com is reporting that it’s possible. A space policy expert told the website that plans are in the works by NASA to travel back to the vicinity of the moon and create a manned outpost there in order to learn more about future deep-space travel. The manned outpost could eventually be used as a staging area for future missions to the moon. This morning on "Early Start," fmr. Astronaut and International Space Station Commander Leroy Chiao explains. NASA deep-space outpost: NASA wants to send astronauts beyond the moon. 11:32 p.m.
EST, September 22, 2012|By Mark K. Matthews, Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — Top NASA officials have picked a leading candidate for the agency's next major mission: construction of a new outpost that would send astronauts farther from Earth than at any time in history. The so-called "gateway spacecraft" would hover in orbit on the far side of the moon, support a small astronaut crew and function as a staging area for future missions to the moon and Mars. At 277,000 miles from Earth, the outpost would be far more remote than the current space station, which orbits a little more than 200 miles above Earth.
NASA Chief Charlie Bolden briefed the White House earlier this month on details of the proposal, but it's unclear whether it has the administration's support. At that location, the combined gravities of the Earth and moon reach equilibrium, making it possible to "stick" an outpost there with minimal power required to keep it in place. One NASA supporter in Congress — U.S. NASA to deploy water-seeking robot on Moon in 2017, manned lunar base could be next. 50 years ago, President John F.
Kennedy told the United States that man would go to the moon. Soon, another American president may announce that the same celestial body will serve as a waypoint for manned space exploration. NASA considering deep-space outpost on far side of moon. An artist's concept shows the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle and future destinations for human exploration beyond Earth orbit: the moon, an asteroid and Mars.NASA.
NASA may unveil new manned moon missions - Technology & science - Space - Space.com. NASA is serious about sending astronauts back to the moon's neighborhood and will likely unveil its ambitious plans soon now that President Barack Obama has been re-elected, experts say.
The space agency has apparently been thinking about setting up a manned outpost beyond the moon's far side, both to establish a human presence in deep space and to build momentum toward a planned visit to an asteroid in 2025. The new plans have probably already been cleared with the Obama Administration but have been kept under wraps in case Republican candidate Mitt Romney won Tuesday night's (Nov. 6) presidential election, said space policy expert John Logsdon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University. "NASA has been evolving its thinking, and its latest charts have inserted a new element of cislunar/lunar gateway/Earth-moon L2 sort of stuff into the plan," Logsdon told SPACE.com. But astronauts likely won't head straight to a space rock when SLS and Orion are ready to fly together in 2021. Nasa intend to establish a manned outpost on the Moon, according to experts - Science - News. Space policy expert John Logsdon, claims that such plans were kept under wraps in case Mitt Romney, who lost to the incumbent Barack Obama, won earlier this week.
In an interview with space.com, Logsdon claimed Nasa intends to establish a manned outpost on the Moon with a view to visit an asteroid in 2025. "Nasa has been evolving its thinking, and its latest charts have inserted a new element of cislunar/lunar gateway/Earth-moon L2 sort of stuff into the plan," said Longsdon, a retired professor at George Washington University. "They've been holding off announcing that until after the election," he claimed, adding that Republican candidate Mitt Romney had promised to reassess and possibly revise the space agency's direction and budget. Nasa is also likely to be able to achieve these goals within the $17.7 billion (£11.1 bn) budget that was outlined in the proposed 2013 federal budget, according to Logsdon. Lunar outpost (NASA) Concept art from NASA showing astronauts entering a lunar outpost. (2006) A lunar outpost was an element of the George W.
Bush era Vision for Space Exploration, which has been replaced with President Barack Obama's space policy.[1] The outpost would have been an inhabited facility on the surface of the Moon. At the time it was proposed, NASA was to construct the outpost over the five years between 2019 and 2024. The United States Congress directed that the U.S. portion, "shall be designated the Neil A.