Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

NASA video reveals complexity of Lunar Gateway plan

By

The Lunar Gateway will be a space station in a lunar orbit primarily for getting astronauts and cargo to the surface of the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.

The space agency is using various private firms to develop various Gateway modules, the first of which will be should be deployed in the mid-2020s.

Recommended Videos

NASA recently shared a fascinating video (below) that reveals the complexity of its ambitious plan to build and maintain the Gateway.

Gateway Buildup Animation

An international collaboration between NASA and its partners in Canada, Europe, and Japan, the animation shows the orbital outpost taking shape over time, with various astronaut voyages using the new Orion spacecraft also part of the timeline.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The video includes, for example, the arrival of the first two Gateway components: the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO).

After that comes the International Habitation module (I-HAB) and the first visit by Orion when four astronauts will enter the Lunar Gateway for the first time.

After Orion leaves to take the astronauts home, a Logistics Module will deliver an external robotics system built by Canada. This will enable astronauts to carry out work on the outside of the station, similar to how it happens today in low-Earth orbit on the International Space Station.

SpaceX will then send the Human Landing System (HLS). This modified Starship rocket will transport the first woman and first person of color to the surface of the moon, probably before the end of this decade. The historic moment will also mark the first crewed lunar landing since the groundbreaking Apollo missions five decades ago.

The video goes on to show multiple modules coming and going, some with astronauts, some with supplies, and some with cargo for building the first human lunar base for long-term stays on our nearest neighbor.

For space fans, there is much to look forward to as NASA and its partners enter a new era of deep space exploration that’s expected to lead to the first crewed visit to Mars sometime in the 2030s.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
See the polar moon sites where NASA plans to land its astronauts
An artist’s concept of an Artemis astronaut deploying an instrument on the lunar surface.

NASA has updated its list of potential landing sites for the next human visit to the moon, which is planned for 2026. The Artemis III mission will see the first crewed lunar landing since the Apollo era, and the plan is for astronauts to explore the moon's South Pole region where there is thought to be water ice on the lunar surface.

NASA shared a list of 13 candidate landing locations for Artemis III in 2022, but has now updated its list to nine candidates. Some of these were on the list previously, while others have been added such as the Mons Mouton mountain and plateau, which is particularly interesting to scientists because the height of the mountain means that there are permanently shadowed regions nearby. These places, where sunlight never touches, are particularly good candidates when it comes to looking for water ice.

Read more
NASA reveals date for attempted return flight of troubled Starliner
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft docked at the space station.

NASA is targeting Friday, September 6, for the return flight of Boeing Space’s troubled Starliner spacecraft, the agency revealed on Thursday.

The vehicle will come home from the International Space Station (ISS) nearly three months later than originally planned and without the crew that it arrived with. The flight, the outcome of which could determine the Starliner’s future, is expected to take about six hours, NASA said in a blog post on Thursday.

Read more
Watch NASA astronauts use VR to ‘explore’ upcoming lunar space station
A NASA astronaut uses VR to explore the Lunar Gateway.

NASA has shared footage showing astronauts using VR headsets to learn what it will be like aboard the Lunar Gateway space station.

The Lunar Gateway will orbit the moon and be used mainly for getting astronauts and cargo to and from the lunar surface during the upcoming Artemis missions. It'll also be used as a space-based laboratory similar to how the International Space Station, which is in low-Earth orbit, operates today.

Read more