GOLDEN,
Colorado - NASA is set to roll out next month a U.S. national strategy for lunar exploration,
one that outlines both robotic exploration needs and the rationale for sending
humans back to the Moon.
The
space agency plan is a key component in the response to U.S. President George
W. Bush's Vision
for Space Exploration - a call to action that he sketched out in early 2004.
That
far-reaching, big picture White House agenda included as a goal the return of humans to the
Moon's surface by 2020 - as the launching point for missions beyond. Also,
starting no later than 2008, a series of robotic missions would be dispatched
to the lunar surface to research and prepare for future human exploration.
With
the Moon viewed as home for abundant resources, President Bush also explained
that lunar soil contains raw materials that might be harvested and processed
into rocket fuel or breathable air.
"We
can use our time on the Moon to develop and test new approaches and
technologies and systems that will allow us to function in other, more
challenging environments. The Moon is a logical step toward further progress
and achievement," Bush stated nearly three years ago during a speech at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Not set in stone
Prospective
use of the Moon was high on the agenda at the eighth Space Resources
Roundtable, held here Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at the Colorado School of Mines and in
collaboration with the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas.
The need to effectively use space resources "has penetrated deeply in planning for NASA's Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program," said David Atkinson, Deputy Program Executive for the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "It could become a keystone of our future human exploration", with use of lunar resources helping to enable the settlement of the Moon, he said.
Atkinson
said that while NASA's lunar plans are not set in stone, a display of on-the-spot
use of the Moon's resources--also labeled as In-Situ
Resource Utilization (ISRU)--is forecast in about the 2013 time frame.
Potentially,
follow-on experiments and equipment, Atkinson added, could lead to an ISRU
production output at some serious level. This ability would supplement
resources lugged from Earth and
enable future crews to start "living off the land."
Short sorties
On
December 4-6, NASA is holding its 2nd Space Exploration Conference in Houston,
Texas--a status report meeting on implementing the Vision for Space Exploration.
The
NASA lunar architecture unveiling is expected to answer the "why?" of returning
to the Moon. Throughout this year, NASA has solicited input regarding the
benefits of lunar exploration from academia, the private sector and space
agencies from around the world.
It
will be a notional strategy for both robotic and human exploration, with the
intent to kick-start more discussion in and out of NASA circles, explained
Gerald Sanders, ISRU project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
He coordinates all space resource work throughout the space agency.
Up
for dialogue, Sanders told SPACE.com are human-piloted "sortie" flights
to the Moon - missions longer than the lengthiest Apollo stay of three
days, but not going into a lunar night.
That
is, sorties to the Moon's equator would be less than 14 days, but more than
three days - likely around three to six day missions, Sanders said. There is
also desire to go to the lunar poles, to permanently or semi-permanently lit
locales. "If you go to the poles, day is different there," he noted.
Moon outpost
Sorties
would reach "very unique places" that Apollo expeditions did not visit, Sanders
said. More people would be on the lunar surface than Apollo, he said, and for
longer stay times. That means crews can investigate diverse locations--perhaps
even the Moon's "far side" which is never visible from the Earth.
Sorties
are also seen as a way to regain NASA's lunar legs, so to speak. These
excursions would not only groom astronaut skills and appraise equipment, but
also sharpen ground controller talent that would support the short sojourns.
An
outpost
on the Moon, on the other hand, would emplace people and equipment at one
site.
"It
limits you to a single location, but it gives you much more capability...more
redundancy...more living and lab space," Sanders said.
There
are major differences between a short sortie and the long-term outpost: The
amount of needed hardware and the ability to get a crew through a lunar night.
To sustain a presence on the Moon will entail rotation of crews similar to that
done on the International Space Station, Sanders observed.
Early demonstrations
Experts
that gathered here at the Space Resources Roundtable focused on ISRU
capabilities.
To
hunker down on the Moon, astronauts can, for example, use lunar resources to make oxygen
and water, create radiation
shielding and building materials, as well as fabricate spare parts and
tools.
For
sustained human presence on the Moon, ISRU technology demonstrations should
definitely be included and are a "must-have" in the very early stages of the
lunar architecture.
That's
the view of Angel Abbud-Madrid, Director of the Center for Space Resources at
the Colorado School of Mines. "The early testing and demonstration of reliable
ISRU technology will significantly help to lower the cost, mass, and risk of
future missions," he told SPACE.com.
ISRU
research and technology are currently at the stage in which early demonstration
payloads can be developed for inclusion on the first robotic missions to the
Moon, Abbud-Madrid suggested. As a first step, he said, automated hardware can
showcase drilling and excavation techniques, as well as validate chemical processing
ideas.
"However,
it must be emphasized that this evolutionary approach towards the use of space
resources will only be possible if demonstration payloads are considered at the
very beginning of the lunar architecture plan, Abbud-Madrid said. They will be
necessary "to fully test the capability of the various ISRU technologies and to
resolve any problems encountered with the operation of such devices on the
lunar surface," he concluded.
Beyond viewgraphs
NASA's
21st century return to the Moon is foreseen as being in full-access mode -
having the capacity to reach anywhere on the lunar surface.
"If
we are going to the Moon, it's a fairly diverse location of interest. You don't
want to limit yourself right up front," NASA's Sanders pointed out.
As
for ISRU, it can be portrayed as being in a chicken and egg limbo status. It
has clear benefits, but gaining respectability and mission-critical stature is
still in the offing.
Nevertheless,
regarding the future of ISRU, Sanders is quick to respond: "I think it's more a
question of when than if."
But
as to when ISRU is introduced and at what pace remains a theme of discussion,
Sanders continued. "Part of that is budgetary...part of it is convincing the
users that it's going to be available."
ISRU
hardware is now being built and tested, Sanders said. "It is first generation
stuff, but we're getting past the viewgraph-engineering aspect."
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