Space.com By Tariq Malik 2/15/2019
NASA really wants to land astronauts on the moon in 2028. But to do that, the agency is looking to commercial space companies to build the landers, space tugs and refueling stations required to make a moon exploration effort that lasts.
"This time, when we go to the moon we're going to stay," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told a roomful of space industry representatives here Thursday (Feb. 14). "So, we're not going back to the moon to leave flags and footprints and then not go back for another 50 years. We're going to go sustainably. To stay. With landers and robots and rovers — and humans."
The gathering at NASA's headquarters comes a week after the agency unveiled what it calls a Broad Agency Announcement calling on commercial space companies to submit ideas for lunar landers, tug-like transfer vehicles and refueling systems to gas up those vehicles for reuse. Interested companies have until March 25 to submit their ideas, with NASA aiming to make selections in May and issue contracts of up to $9 million for follow-up studies in July (just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing).
"This is going to be fast," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations. "We're going to need the best and brightest from you in industry. We're going to need the best and brightest from the international partner community to pull all this off."
NASA's renewed push to the moon comes from Space Policy Directive 1, an order signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018 directing NASA to return astronauts to the moon in a sustainable way.
The 21st century lunar architecture will use NASA's planned Gateway, an orbital space station near the moon, as a way station for astronauts en route to the moon. Transfer vehicles at the Gateway will ferry lunar landers to and from low lunar orbit. The landers (which consist of a descent element and reusable ascent element that carries the crew) would then make the final trip to the lunar surface.
Refueling spacecraft based at the Gateway will then resupply the transfer tugs and returning ascent vehicles for return trips to the moon. NASA leaders described it as an "open architecture" designed to foster new capabilities to explore the moon.
More:
https://www.space.com/nasa-crewed-lunar-landers-moon-2028.html
