Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (ранее Deep Space Gateway)

2021: Roscosmos left the American lunar Gateway project

At the end of January 2021, it became known about the exit of Roscosmos from the Gateway lunar project, led by NASA. At the same time, the Russian state corporation announced its readiness to discuss issues with the United States on the topic of a near-moon station, if they are of "mutual interest."

The fact that Roscosmos will not participate in the project of the near-moon Gateway station was reported to RIA Novosti with reference to the press service of the state corporation. According to the agency's source, Russian representatives were denied access to Gateway materials, and they were also excluded from discussions and mailings of letters. The reason was the repeated statements of Roscosmos about the insufficient role of Russia in the project.

Roscosmos left the American lunar project Gateway

The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, commenting on this news, said that Russia had discussed participation in the project, but was not part of the expert group.

How can we be excluded from some "lunar group" if we never entered there?! Yes, NASA sent us some documents a couple of times, held a briefing (not a discussion, namely a briefing). But we have repeatedly stated that we are ready to take part in a project where all participants are equal. As an example, the principles on which the work of the ISS is based were given. However, what NASA is now trying to do on the moon is an American project with limited participation of external partners. We are not interested in this, "Rogozin said in his Telegram channel.

He noted that Russia has its own moon research program, which will be launched later in 2021, and in 2028 it is planned to begin a manned lunar program.

The head of Roscosmos expressed the hope that the United States would consider and support the proposal of the Russian Federation to adapt one of the locks of their near-moon orbital station to the possible docking of the Russian manned ship Eagle to duplicate complex systems in far space.^[1]

2017

Announcement of the near-moon station of Roscosmos and NASA

Roscosmos and NASA agreed to jointly develop the near-moon space station Deep Space Gateway. This was stated by the head of Roscosmos Igor Komarov in September 2017. China, India, as well as other countries of the BRICS^[2] Destinations can take part ^[3] project^[4]

The launch of the first modules into the orbit of the moon is possible in 2024-2026. Russia will create one of the three modules and develop standards for docking mechanisms. To launch new designs into orbit, Roscosmos plans to use a new super-heavy class launch vehicle.

At the station, it is planned to create a small space for the team, a bus for moving on the surface of the moon and a docking module.

The station will move to support robotic or partnership missions to the surface of the moon. In lunar orbit, the station will support missions that will explore other directions in the solar system.

Five of the world's space agencies are working to create their own ships and systems, so in order to avoid problems in technical interaction in the future, part of the standards must be unified.

Before traveling to deep space

As part of this program, near-moon space will be mastered, where astronauts must build and test systems before traveling to deep space, including Mars. Here they will check robotic missions with descent to the lunar surface. Astronauts from near-moon space will be able to return home within a few days in case of a problem. From the Martian orbit, they get much longer, so NASA prefers to first conduct tests at a closer distance - near the Moon^[5].

Space Launch System (SLS) Orion Profile Flight

The study of near-moon space will begin with the first launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) launch vehicle with the Orion spacecraft. A three-week research mission is called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). It'll be unmanned. Nevertheless, this mission should be a wonderful event for cosmonautics, because a spacecraft designed for people for the first time in history will fly so far from Earth.

Orion spacecraft. Render: NASA

The launch of SLS with the Orion spacecraft will take place from launch complex 39B at the Space Center. Kennedy, presumably, at the end of 2018. In orbit, Orion will spread the solar panels and head towards the moon. The intermediate cryogenic propulsion system Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), which is located on the SLS launch vehicle directly under the Orion ship, as the upper stage of the rocket, will give momentum to the ship.

Intermediate cryogenic propulsion system. Render: NASA

The road to the moon will take several days. At its end, Orion will disconnect from ICPS, and the latter, in turn, will release several CubeSat mini-satellites into space. Together with the spacecraft, the SLS rocket is able to lift 11 mini-satellites into orbit with a size of 6 units each.

It is assumed that one of the satellites in near-moon space will be BioSentinel, which for the first time in 40 years will take the Earth's life form into deep space. The goal of the BioSentinel scientific program is to study the effect of space radiation on living cells during the 18 months of operation of the satellite.

NASA plans to enter the rhythm and in the 2020s make one launch a year. The first manned flight is scheduled for August 2021.

The plan of this flight is based on the translunar injection (TLI) profile - a kind of acceleration maneuver with a trajectory that puts the ship into lunar orbit. The trajectory is shown in the diagram below, where a red dot indicates the location of the TLI maneuver. Before launching to the moon, the ship will turn around the Earth twice, gradually increasing speed and preparing for TLI.

On the way back to Earth, the Orion ship will set off using a gravitational maneuver, turning around the moon. During this flight, the crew will fly thousands of kilometers across the moon. For the first manned mission, NASA has set flexible deadlines. The mission can last from 8 to 21 days.

For lunar missions, NASA has identified goals and objectives. Together with experiments on the ISS, these scientific projects will make it possible to prepare for future missions in deep space.

Flight equipment for the first and second missions SLS and Orion is now in production, life support systems and related technologies are being tested on the ISS. Development work continues to create housing and the power plant of the ship, on which people will go to Mars, here NASA works closely with private companies and foreign partners who offer their options for solving existing problems.

Lunar kosmoport

During the first lunar missions, NASA intends not only to test the systems and prove the safety of flights, but also to build a Deep Space Gateway spaceport in lunar orbit, which will become a gateway for studying the lunar surface and an intermediate stage before sending astronauts to Mars.

There will be a power source, a residential module, a docking module, a gateway chamber, a logistics module. The power plant will use mainly electric traction to hold the position of the lunar station or move to different orbits for different missions in the vicinity of the moon.

The three main modules of the lunar station - the power plant, the residential module and the logistics module - will be lifted into orbit by the SLS rocket and delivered by the Orion ship.

NASA is going to serve and use Deep Space Gateway with its partners - both commercial companies and foreign partners.

Deep Space Transport (DST)

At the next stage, NASA plans to develop a Deep Space Transport (DST) spacecraft specifically designed for long-range space flights, including to Mars. It will be a reusable ship with electric and chemical traction. The ship will take people from the lunar spaceport, take them to Mars or to another destination - and then return them back to the moon. Here the ship can be repaired, refueled - and sent on the next flight.

Testing of the ship will take place in the next decade, and in the late 2020s, NASA plans to conduct one-year tests of Deep Space Transport with the crew. Astronauts will spend 300-400 days in near-moon space. This mission will be a dress rehearsal before the astronauts are sent to Mars. To date, the record for being in deep space is 12.5 days for 17 Apollo crew members.

Шаблон:Topic Space

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