INSIDE NASA’S FUTURE MOON OUTPOST

NASA has grand plans to build a space station in orbit around the Moon. Called the Lunar Gateway, construction could start as early as 2024 and is an essential component of NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon. Following the preliminary test flights, the plan is to embark on a series of long-duration missions, and that’s where Gateway enters the picture. It will serve as a kind of hotel for astronauts en route to the lunar surface, as well as providing accommodation and workspace for scientists who will spend up to three months at a time carrying out remote observations of the Moon and conducting other scientific studies.

In very simple terms, the Gateway