The next steps

2007

The U.S. Vision for Space Exploration commits the United States to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 using the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle. Like the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, this effort will require preliminary reconnaissance in the form of robotic landers and probes. Unlike Apollo, some of the data the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will rely upon to select landing sites and conduct science will be based on international missions as well, including SMART-1, SELENE, and Chandrayaan-1, in addition to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which carries a complement of instruments, with one from an international partner. The European Space Agency's SMART-1 orbiter made the first comprehensive inventory of key chemical elements in the lunar surface. It also investigated the impact theory of the Moon's formation.' SELENE, the SELenological and ENgineering Explorer, is a Japanese Space Agency (JAXA)...

Acta Astronautica, 2018

Returning to the Moon has kept gaining interest lately in the scientific community as a mandatory step for answering a cohort of key scientific questions. This paper presents a novel Lunar mission design to demonstrate enabling technologies for deep-space exploration, in accordance with the Global Exploration Roadmap and the National Research Council. This mission, named ALCIDES, takes advantage of some of the systems that are currently under development as a part of the HERACLES exploration architecture: these include the Orion module, the Space Exploration Vehicle, the Boeing Reusable Lander, the Ariane 6, the Falcon Heavy, the Space Launch System, as well as the Evolvable Deep-Space Habitat placed in EML2. A consistent part of the efforts in designing the ALCIDES mission accounts for innovative exploration scenarios: by analysing state of the art in robotics and planetary exploration, we introduce a mission architecture in which robots and humans collaborate to achieve several tasks, both autonomously and through cooperation. During this mission, high-performance mobility, extravehicular activity and habitation capabilities would be carried out and implemented. This project aims to demonstrate the human capability to live and work in the Lunar environment through the development of a long-term platform. We selected the Amundsen-Ganswindt basin as the landing site for multiple reasons: the possible presence of permanently shadowed regions, its position within the South Pole and its proximity to the Schrödinger basin. The main objectives of the ALCIDES mission are to study the Lunar cold trap volatiles, to gain understanding of the Lunar highlands geology through sampling and in-situ measurements and to study Human-Robotic interactions. In addition, factors such as psychology, legal issues and outreach regarding this mission were also considered. In particular, four traverses connecting the Amundsen crater with the Schrödinger basin were proposed, three of which to be performed by a tele-operated rover, and the remaining one to be carried out by a human crew with rover assistance. During these traverses, the rover will collect samples from several points of interest as well as perform insitu measurements with a suite of instruments on board, helping to locate a convenient place for future human habitation. The ALCIDES mission results will help the scientific community to better understand the Moon and to take advantage of its resources for future space exploration. Gaining this knowledge will allow us to move forward in the development of systems and capabilities for manned missions to Mars and beyond.

2017

We shall have a Technology foresight workshop in the context of elaborating the concept of a Moon Village with the goal of a sustainable human presence and activity on the lunar surface [1-3] as an ensemble where multiple users can carry out multiple activities. This enterprise can federate all interested Nations and partners. The Moon represents a prime choice for political, programmatic, technical, scientific, operational, economical and inspirational reasons. Previous MoonVillage projects COSPAR and its ILEWG International Lunar Exploration Working Group (created 20 years ago) have been supporting opportunities of collaboration between lunar missions and exchange on future projects [4-8]. A flotilla of lunar orbiters has been deployed for science and reconnaissance in the last international lunar decade (SMART-1, Kaguya, Chang’E1&2, Chandrayaan-1, LCROSS, LRO, GRAIL, LADEE). De facto, collaborative opportunities and elements of a Robotic Village on the Moon exist, as China landed...

AIAA SPACE 2011 Conference & Exposition, 2011

The lunar scientific community is currently exploring and planning a new vision of scientific experimentation and exploration using the lunar surface as a platform for scientific investigations that include Earth observations, lunar science, Solar System studies, and the Universe that are uniquely enabled on the lunar surface. This lunar exploration science begins with robotic precursor missions, eventually followed by human missions to the lunar surface. The concept of a central lunar operations facility can be envisioned to support the challenge of coordinating lunar operations and science across a myriad of participating institutions. A Center for Lunar Exploration Operations (CLEO) could be implemented at a facility such as the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center where significant infrastructure is readily available. exploration of the Moon possible. The ISECG Reference Architecture is a phased approach to lunar exploration that provides continuous robotic and human exploration activity in multiple locations across the lunar surface. The phases include the following: (i) robotic precursor phase, (ii) polar exploration and system validation phase, (iii) polar relocation phase (robotic relocation from poles to lower lunar latitudes), and (iv) non-polar relocation and long duration phase (~70 days at one site). Additional information of the Reference Architecture for Human Lunar Exploration can be found at http://www.globalspaceexploration.org.

AIAA Proceedings.[np]. …, 2009

As we lay down plans and ramp up development of transportation systems for returning people to the Moon, alternative concepts are being proposed for activities to conduct there in order to gain the experience necessary to prepare for more ambitious human interplanetary expeditions to Mars and beyond. Fully employing NASA's Constellation transportation systems such as the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and the Altair Lunar Lander as baseline elements, the USC ASTE527 Return to the Moon: Looking Glass 204 Project pondered the following question: What activities precisely can we do on the Moon, with crew and robots, that can immediately (very short timeframe-2015-2040) benefit not only the science and engineering community, but also humanity as a whole, on a permanent basis ? The establishment of a sturdy cislunar communications system followed by critical crew rescue capability in the proximity of a primary lunar habitat are seen as the foundation blocks for this architecture. Once the foundation is reliably established, essential physical infrastructure to support the emplacement of a suite of permanent, evolvable observatories, long-range traverses to conduct geology and astrobiology, and critical crew support were addressed. Manned, pressurized rovers are essential in order for crew to access observatory sites to set up, calibrate and evolve these man tended facilities which are located along the proposed traverse route. Rovers and crew are also needed to deploy, service and evolve science payloads that are autonomously landed far apart in remote regions of the lunar globe. Participants were tasked to create their own system concepts, which they thought were useful. They presented material on pertinent concepts listed below: 1.

2019

Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 2013

Incorporation of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and the production of mission critical consumables for 9 propulsion, power, and life support into mission architectures can greatly reduce the mass, cost, and risk of missions 10 leading to a sustainable and affordable approach to human exploration beyond Earth. ISRU and its products can 11 also greatly affect how other exploration systems are developed, including determining which technologies are 12 important or enabling. While the concept of lunar ISRU has existed for over 40 years, the technologies and systems 13 had not progressed much past simple laboratory proof-of-concept tests. With the release of the Vision for Space 14 Exploration in 2004 with the goal of harnessing the Moon"s resources, NASA initiated the ISRU Project in the 15 Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) to develop the technologies and systems needed to meet 16 this goal. In the five years of work in the ISRU Project, significant advancements and accomplishments occurred in 17 several important areas of lunar ISRU. Also, two analog field tests held in Hawaii in 2008 and 2010 demonstrated 18 all the steps in ISRU capabilities required along with the integration of ISRU products and hardware with 19 propulsion, power, and cryogenic storage systems. This paper will review the scope of the ISRU Project in the 20 ETDP, ISRU incorporation and development strategies utilized by the ISRU Project, and ISRU development and 21 test accomplishments over the five years of funded project activity.

2015

Cargo Transport System and the Lunar Exploration Surface Infrastructure and discusses some of the critical challenges faced, alternatives considered, and Orbital’s solution for these challenges. In addition to presenting a Lunar Surface Exploration architecture that fits within program constraints and highlighting the architecture defining trade studies, e.g. habitat geometry, habitat radiation shielding, lunar surface power, and cargo delivery system, a launch manifest and strategy for lunar base expansion are also discussed.

Journal of Space Safety Engineering, 2020

In view of the future missions to the Moon and in the framework of the Moon Village vision, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) are increasingly focused on activities leading from LEO human spaceflight to planetary exploration. A new era of coordinated human and robotic exploration is expected to begin with the construction of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), which will lead to a return of humans to the lunar surface. In this context, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) and DLR, co-situated in Cologne, Germany, are preparing themselves for future human exploration by conducting Earth-based analogue and preparatory activities. We focus herein on LUNA a novel lunar analogue facility that is currently under development at the Cologne campus which will complement existing campus analogue facilities such as Environmental Habitat (:envihab) and the Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF). LUNA includes an artificial lunar analogue facility that consists of a hall-type structure containing a regolith testbed. A large volume regolith simulant, EAC-1, will be used to recreate facsimile of a lunar terrain, while illumination conditions can be varied to recreate different Moon conditions. Adjacent to the LUNA hall is the habitation module and Future Lunar EXploration Habitat (FLEXHab), hosting up to 4 crewmembers for 1-day missions, and providing direct access to LUNA. It is planned that the FLEXHab will utilize the energy module, a stand-alone power system built around hydrogen technology (fuel cells, electrolyzer, batteries and photovoltaics) for its energy supply. Strong synergies can be built with current analogue facilities at DLR :envihab and the NBF. For example, the DLR :envihab provides an infrastructure in which astronauts can sleep, eat and work under environmentally controlled conditions, even possibly under isolation. Within the LUNA testbed, specific mission scenarios can be simulated for astronaut training, including testing of geological/seismic regolith characterization techniques, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies, development of mining methods, rock formation mapping and storage, methods of biological and chemical analysis of soil samples, telerobotics, and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) preparation. The LUNA facility will be a flexible, evolvable, and unique exploration enabling asset to address the hurdles posed by future human and robotic exploration. Moreover, external partners such as research centres, universities, and private companies will be welcome to use the facilities and propose their own experiments on a low barrier for entry basis. The full operational capability of LUNA (hall, FLEXHab and energy module) is expected for 2021.