Right now, engineers are busy creating the first components of what will eventually become Gateway Space Station. One day, if all goes according to plan, Gateway will serve as the first space station in lunar orbit and the first true lunar transportation hub. Although not planned to be permanently inhabited, this station is being built to serve as a forward base for astronauts on Artemis moon missions during the 2030s and beyond.
And, although it may look mostly like one NASA project, Gateway it is an international effort. Europe, Japan, Canada and the United Arab Emirates are all part of the contributing stations.
Amid all the efforts to build this incredible laboratory, NASA releasing an artist’s 3D rendering of Gateway, showing what the station might look like if and when it all pans out — complete with all its currently planned modules. We took a closer look. Here’s what we found out.
1. HELLO
It is in the heart of the station Housing and logistics post office Module (HALO), a squat cylinder that will serve as half of Gateway’s main crew area.
Different from International Space Stationwhich rotates earthGateway will not be a permanent post at ROOM. Instead, it will be more like a base forward. Beginning with the second Artemis crew mission, Artemis IV, the astronauts will use Gateway as an operations center, living and working on board when they are not underway. MONDAY lower.
Connected: NASA’s Gateway space station in lunar orbit explained in pictures
HALO will then be the Gateway’s command and communication module. For cases where the Gateway is unoccupied, the module will contain software that enables the station to operate largely on its own. HALO will also house some of Gateway’s science projects, such as instRuMents to measure radiation levels inside the module.
Also in HALO, we see the tendin e Canadarm3: a successor to the Canadian Space Agency icon arm which today serves the International Space Station. When Canadarm3 is installed, it will be able to perform repairs autonomously.
2. PPE
On one side of HALO is that of Gateway The element of power and thrust (EPP). The station’s main power source, the PPE, will rely on a pair of exposed solar panels to produce 60 kilowatts of electricity.
This electricity will not only supply the rest of the station’s needs, but will power the station’s electrical propulsion system, located between two solar panels. The EPP will use that electricity to ionize xenon gas. Gateway will rely on that propulsion system to keep itself inside a very eccentric orbit which oscillates between 3,000 and 70,000 kilometers (1,875 and 43,750 miles) of the lunar surface.
Together, HALO and PPE will form Gateway’s initial seed. If all goes according to plan, they will reach the Moon in time for Artemis IV, currently scheduled for a 2028 launch.
3. Lunar I-Hab
On the other side of the HALO is a second squat cylinder, similar in size to the HALO itself. This is Lunar I-Hab. Built jointly by European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the I-Hab will serve as Gateway’s second crew module: the second half of its crew area.
In keeping with the “hab” in its name, the I-Hab will be the crew’s living and sleeping quarters. The four crew members of an Artemis mission will share a space the size of the interior of a caravan. The module will contain a dining gallery, plus heads and an exercise area.
Mounted on the side of the I-Hab, shaped like a bubble that attaches to the outside of the module, is an airlock that will allow the crew to exit the station for space walks. UAE will provide this airlock.
Current plans call for Artemis IV to deliver the I-Hab to Gateway when it flies there in 2028.
4. Lunar view
Turning to HALO, docked on its side, we see its gilded cylinder Lunar view (until recently known as the European Fuel and Telecommunications Infrastructure Assurance System, or ESPIRIT).
Another module built by ESA, Lunar View will serve as an expansion pack for Gateway. Lunar View will join HALO, PPE and I-Hab only on a later mission. In the current dock, this is Artemis V, scheduled for a 2030 launch.
The Lunar look is functional and aesthetic. The functional part is the main function of the module: additional storage. Lunar View will contain the cargo volume of a small van, no doubt a welcome addition to the rather cramped quarters of HALO and I-Hab. The module will also contain additional fuel for the PPE.
The aesthetic part comes in the form of the Gateway’s larger windows. The Lunar View will contain six windows, arranged around the capsule and insulated orbital debrisallowing Gateway residents to admire, well, a stunning view of the moon.
5. Spaceship
More than just showing Gateway’s design, the video also shows a glimpse of what Gateway might look like one day when it’s in full service as a lunar transit hub. Three spacecraft are attached to the station.
At the far end of the I-Hab is docked Orion capsulethe mainstay of the Artemis missions and the vehicle by which astronauts will ride to and from Earth.
The cylinder attached to the side of the I-Hab is Deep space logistics (DLS) cargo spacecraft, which has a specialized docking port there. Each new Artemis mission will bring one of these to the Gateway with them, carrying the equipment, provisions and scientific experiments they will use during them. time on the moon.
Finally, attached to the far side of HALO and Lunar View is Human landing system (HLS) – the spacecraft that, starting with Artemis IV, will actually bring astronauts to the lunar surface.
6. Scientific experiments
In addition to astronauts, Gateway will house a small portion of scientific payloads. Each new Artemis mission will bring a new set of experiments. NASA video shows two that are scheduled to fly over the outside of Gateway.
Dependent on the PPE side is provided by ESA European Radiation Sensors Group (ERSA), a suite of instruments for measuring space radiation beyond Earth’s shield magnetic field. In fact, ERSA’s life will begin even before it joins Gateway, as it will measure the radiation the PPE experiences as it flies around Earth. Van Allen belts.
Attached to HALO is NASA’s Heliophysics Environmental and Radiation Measurement Experiment Package (HERMES), which will measure particles on Earth magnetic tail. Basically, after Earth is hit by the solar windthe magnetic tail passes across the moon whenever the moon is in the right place in its orbit.
These experiments will tell us about solar systemhigh energy environment be safe. But space agencies and scientists also hope to use the information gleaned from these experiments to better prepare astronauts for much longer missions much further into the future — crewed trips to Marchmaybe.