This Was a Huge Week for the NASA-Russia Lunar Space Station and the Future of Spaceflight

[kevindavis007]

Major discussions in Tokyo this past week could decide the future of space exploration for decades to come.

Top NASA officials and their partners in the International Space Station program gathered in Tokyo this past Friday and Monday, Popular Mechanics has learned, for behind-closed-doors talks on the next big step in human spaceflight: the lunar orbiting station. Officially known as the Deep Space Gateway, or DSG, the modular outpost will occupy an egg-shaped orbit around the moon in the 2020s, when it replaces the ISS and becomes the main destination for astronauts and cosmonauts.

Although all partners generally agree on the idea of the DSG, the exact design and use of the future outpost is still up for debate. NASA hoped to use the outpost as a springboard for missions to Mars, while others are pushing for the exploration of the lunar surface. These diverse goals will be hard to reconcile in one space station because of technical and financial differences and limitations.

Read More: http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a15855983/nasa-roscosmos-tokyo-talks/

I'm not sure if it wise for us to be working with the Russians.