LEADERSHIP (continued from front page) geochemical studies, and search for water at the poles. Depending on the discoveries of the Observer, robotic landers and rovers may be sent to the surface to obtain more information. Mapping and remote sensing would characterize the lunar surface and identify appropriate sites for the outpost. The discovery of water or other volatiles would be extremely significant, and would have important implications for the location of a habitable outpost. Phase II: Return to the Moon (2000-2005) Phase II begins with the return of astronauts to the lunar surface. The initiative proposes that a crew be transported from the Space Station to lunar orbit in a module propelled by a lunar transfer vehicle. The crew and equipment would land in vehicles derived from the transfer vehicle. Crew members would stay on the surface for one to two weeks, setting up scientific instruments, a lunar oxygen pilot plant, and the modules and equipment necessary to begin building a habitable outpost. The crew would return to the orbiting transfer vehicle for transportation back to the Space Station. Over the first few flights, the early outpost would grow to include a habitation area, a research facility, a rover, some small machinery to move lunar soil, and a pilot plant to demonstrate the extraction of lunar oxygen. By 2001, a crew could stay the entire lunar night (14 Earth days), and by 2005 the outpost would support five people for several weeks at a time. Phase III: A t Home on the Moon (2005-2010) Phase III evolves directly from Phase II, as scientific and technological capabilities allow the outpost to expand to a permanently occupied base. The base would have closed-loop lifesupport systems and an operational lunar oxygen plant, and would be involved in frontline scientific research and technology development. The program also requires the mobilization of disciplines not previously required in the space program: surface construction and transportation, mining, and materials processing. By 2010, up to 30 people would be productively living and working on the lunar surface for months at a time. Lunar oxygen will be available for use at the outpost and possibly for propellant for further exploration. TECHNOLOGY, TRANSPORTATION, AND ORBITAL FACILITIES This initiative envisions frequent trips to the Moon after the year 2000 — trips that would require a significant investment in technology and in transportation and orbital facilities in the early 1990s. The critical technologies for this initiative are those which would make human presence on the Moon meaningful and productive. They include life-support system technologies to create a habitable outpost; automation and expert systems and surface power technologies to make the outpost functional and its inhabitants productive; and lunar mining and prospecting for lunar resources. The transportation system must be capable of regularly transporting the elements of the lunar outpost, the fuel for the voyage, and the lunar crew to low-Earth orbit. This requires a heavy-lift launch vehicle and a healthy Space Shuttle fleet. The transfer of both cargo and crew from the Space Station to lunar orbit requires the development of a reusable space transfer vehicle. This and a heavy-lift launch vehicle will be the workhorses of the Lunar initiative. The Space Station is an essential part of this initiative. As the lunar outpost evolves, the Space Station would become its operational hub in low-Earth orbit. Supplies, equipment, and propellants would be marshalled at the Station for transit to the Moon. It is therefore required that the Space Station evolve to include spaceport facilities. In the 1990s, the Phase I Space Station would be used as a technology and systems test bed for developing closed-loop life-support systems, automation and robotics, and the expert systems required for the lunar outpost. The outpost would, in fact, rely on the Space Station for many of its systems and subsystems, including lunar habitation modules which would be derivatives of the Space Station habitation/laboratory modules. SUMMARY This initiative represents a conceptual leap outward from Earth. The challenge is to tame and harness the space frontier — to go beyond Apollo, and explore the Moon for what it can tell us, and what it can offer us, as a research and development center and as a resource in itself. Exploring, prospecting, and settling are parts of our heritage and will most assuredly be parts of our future. TRANSPORTATION From now until the mid-1990s, Earth-to- orbit transportation is NASA’s most pressing problem. A space program that can’t get to orbit has all the effectiveness of a navy that can’t get to the sea. America must develop a cadre of launch vehicles that can first meet the near- term commitments of the civilian space program and then grow to support projected programs or initiatives. Expendable launch vehicles should be provided for payloads which are not unique to the Space Shuttle — this is required just to implement current plans and to satisfy fundamental requirements. A Shuttle-derived cargo vehicle should be developed immediately. A Shuttle-derived vehicle is attractive because of its lift capacity, its synergism with the Space Transportation System, and its potential to be available for service in the early 1990s. This cargo vehicle would reduce the payload requirements on the Shuttle for Space Station support and would accelerate the Space Station assembly sequence. The United States should also seriously consider the advisability of a crew-rated expendable to lift a crew capsule or a logistics capsule to the Space Station. The logistics vehicle, for Space Station resupply and/or instrument return, would be developed with autodocking and precision reentry capabilities. The crew capsule would carry only crew members and supplies, would launch (with or without a crew) on the expendable vehicle, would have autodocking capability, and might also be used for crew rescue. TECHNOLOGY The National Commission on Space observed that “NASA is still living on the investment made [during the Apollo era], but cannot continue to do so if we are to maintain United States leadership in space.” Several recent studies concur, concluding that our technology base has eroded and technological research and development are underfunded. The technology required for bold ventures beyond Earth’s orbit has not yet been developed, and until it is, human exploration of the inner solar system will have to wait. PATHFINDER Project Pathfinder has been developed by NASA’s Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology in conjunction with experts on the Lunar and Mars initiatives. Pathfinder would provide the technologies to enable bold missions beyond Earth’s orbit: technology for autonomous systems and robotics, for lunar and planetary advanced propulsion systems, Earth-Moon Infrastructure including expendable lander and aerobraked orbital transfer vehicle.
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