NASA signs $1bn deal with Northrop Grumman to build studio apartment in lunar orbit with room for 3 vehicles
- Reference: 1626094927
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/07/12/halo_nasa_deal/
- Source link:
The contract will also require the aerospace outfit to integrate the module with the power and propulsion element being built by Maxar Technologies.
HALO will be both a crew habitat and, with three docking ports, a hub for visiting spacecraft. Derived from Northrop Grumman's Cygnus freighter, used to ferry cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), it won't be the most expansive of pressurised spaces (certainly when compared to the ISS) although will be expandable via additional modules (including the International Habitation Module – [2]slated for launch in 2026 ).
[3]
Illustration showing close-up of HALO, one of the elements of Gateway. Credit: NASA
The module will also play host to NASA's Orion spacecraft, lunar landers, and logistics vehicles. NASA described the size as about that of a "small studio apartment" when it awarded Northrop Grumman with a [4]$187m contract to design the module in 2020 .
A critical design review will take place in 2022. Delivery of the HALO module to the launch site is expected in 2024 for a November launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
[5]
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: "The HALO is a critical component of Gateway, and this exciting announcement today brings us one step closer to landing American boots on both the Moon and Mars."
[6]
The Gateway, of which the HALO is a part, will be in a near-rectilinear orbit that will bring the complex within range of [7]lunar landers at its closest to the Moon and tens of thousands of miles out at its farthest.
NASA is supposed to have boots back on the Moon by 2024, but that goal looks increasingly unrealistic as time goes by. That said, the agency has continued to make progress with its own monster rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and [8]last week stacked the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) atop the SLS.
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The single RL10 engine of the ICPS will be responsible for sending the Orion spacecraft (and its European-built service module) to the Moon on the first uncrewed launch of the SLS. NASA continues to target a 2021 launch for Artemis 1. ®
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[1] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-northrop-grumman-finalize-moon-outpost-living-quarters-contract
[2] https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/thales-alenia-space-its-way-reach-moon
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/07/12/halo.jpg
[4] https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-northrop-grumman-artemis-contract-for-gateway-crew-cabin
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YOxnIh6uxsdLGN-HtPlKDwAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YOxnIh6uxsdLGN-HtPlKDwAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/04/nasa_moon_contract/
[8] https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2021/07/07/artemis-i-rocket-grows-closer-to-launch/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YOxnIh6uxsdLGN-HtPlKDwAAANI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Should have SpaceX do it
But the point is that Northrop Grumman haven't had a new fighter contract for a while and we need to keep them in business so that they will keep funding my election campaign /we have some competition to Boeing-Lockheed
The HALO module, eh?
Took them long enough. When was that game released?
the little engine that could
Nearly didnt for a while but keeps on going and going...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RL10
What actually is "a near-rectilinear orbit "?
I mean I've heard of circular orbits, elliptical orbits, and precession of orbits due to Einstein's theory of relativity, but 'rectilinear' is something I've only ever associated with images, and whether lenses are 'rectilinearly corrected' (and if so, how well) or not.
Rectilinear basically means straight. A rectilinear lens is one for which the image of a straight line is still straight (most don't do this because it produces distortion away from the centre of the image, similar to the Mercator projection for maps). A halo orbit is an orbit around one of the Lagrange points, instead of around one of the actual objects in a three-body system (hence the backronym for this module). A near-rectilinear halo orbit is a specific type of halo orbit which looks like a bunch of somewhat curved lines connected together, rather than a more normal ellipse. It's a bit of an odd name because the lines aren't actually particularly straight at all, but I guess no-one has come up with a better name for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-rectilinear_halo_orbit
Should have SpaceX do it
It will cost less and look cooler.