NASA's lunar reboot is long on ambition, short on answers

Summary

Opinion NASA's Ignition presentation was heavy on space hardware, but light on details. Not least of which was how astronauts are supposed to get from Earth to its moonbase and back. The space agency outlined plans this week, which notably included "pausing" proposals for the Gateway space station, thanks in part to SpaceX and Blue Origin being less than keen on the highly elliptical orbit in which the outpost would have operated. The original architecture called for the Orion spacecraft to dock with the station, and astronauts to transfer to a Human Landing System (HLS) vehicle for longer trips to the lunar surface. The Gateway's unavailability means a rethink is needed. Orion, as currently designed, can't loiter for long in lunar orbit on its own. The next scheduled lunar landings, currently Artemis IV and V, won't require somewhere to stash Orion. Both should be relatively short trips to the Moon: rendezvous with whatever lander is ready in time (SpaceX or Blue Origin), head down to plant a flag and make some footprints, back to the Orion capsule in orbit, and then home. However, the establishment of a lunar base and longer missions will require somewhere to park the astronauts' ride, as they will need a guaranteed way of getting back to Earth . NASA has a few options. One is to launch Orion, rendezvous with a Starship-type vehicle, and then use that spacecraft to return to Earth. That, however, warrants a substantial rework. During the Ignition event, it appeared NASA's intent was to drop the problem into the laps of the commercial HLS providers in exchange for removing the requirement for a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO). The question of how to ferry astronauts to and from a proposed moonbase is only one of many challenges arising from NASA's change of direction. There is also the question of what to do with the existing Gateway hardware that was designed for orbit rather than the lunar surface. A space agency insider told The Register that engineers had ex...