The Artemis Lunar Program: Returning People to the Moon

By Manfred “Dutch” von Ehrenfried

This book describes the future of the Artemis Lunar Program from the years 2017 to about 2030. Despite the uncertainty of the times and the present state of space exploration, it is likely that what is presented in this book will actually happen, to one degree or another. As history has taught us, predictions are often difficult, but one can see enough into the future to be somewhat accurate. As the Bible says, “We see thru the glass, but darkly.”
All of the elements of the proposed program are described from several perspectives: NASA’s, the commercial space industry and our International partners. Also included are descriptions of the many vehicles, habitats, landers, payloads and experiments. The book tells the story of the buildup of a very small space station in a strange new lunar orbit and the descent of payloads and humans, including the first women and next man, to the lunar surface with the intent to evolve a sustained presence over time.   

• Language: English
• Publisher: Springer
• Release date: May 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9783030385132

Book preview

Springer Praxis BooksSpace Exploration

This book series presents the whole spectrum of Earth Sciences, Astronautics and Space Exploration. Practitioners will find exact science and complex engineering solutions explained scientifically correct but easy to understand.

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Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried

The Artemis Lunar Program

Returning People to the Moon

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Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried

Leander, TX, USA

Springer Praxis BooksSpace Exploration

ISBN 978-3-030-38512-5e-ISBN 978-3-030-38513-2

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38513-2

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

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Front cover: The Greek goddess Artemis and a lunar astronaut wearing NASA’s xEMU spacesuit.

Rear cover: NASA spacesuit engineer Kristine Davis wearing the xEMU helmet (top left), a depiction of Artemis in the Moon (top right), Blue Moon’s Lunar Lander (middle) and Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried (bottom).

Project Editor: David M. Harland

Cover design: Jim Wilkie

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

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A

The A symbolizes an arrowhead from Artemis’ quiver and represents launch.

TIP OF THE A

The tip of the A of Artemis points beyond the Moon and signifies that our efforts at the Moon are not the conclusion, but rather the preparation for all that lies beyond.

BLUE EARTH CRESCENT

The crescent shows missions from our audience’s perspective. From Earth we go. Back to Earth all that we learn and develop will return. This crescent also visualizes Artemis’ bow as the source from which all energy and effort is sent.

MOON

The Moon is our next destination and a stepping stone for Mars. It is the focus of all Artemis efforts.

RED TRAJECTORY

The trajectory moves from left to right through the crossbar of the A opposite that of Apollo thus highlighting the distinct differences in our return to the Moon. The trajectory is red to symbolize our path to Mars.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the many scientists, engineers, and students who have been studying data from the Moon for decades; sometimes for their entire careers.

They pore over data from satellites, Apollo rocks, and from the few landers that made it to the lunar surface. They learned from those missions that failed. They study every part of the electromagnetic spectrum. They have results from all the experiments that the Apollo astronauts left on the Moon a half century ago. Some of the Apollo rocks were locked away in pristine condition for analysis by future scientists using better instruments than were available at that time. Everything we know about our nearest planetary neighbor comes from the work of these people.

This book is also dedicated to those in a position to guide NASA in its planning; be they from the NASA Advisory Council, legislators, politicians, administrators or non-profit institutes. While the planning and mission details are worked out in the various NASA working groups, there are others that guide our space policy, including various institutes and non-profits. Thanks in particular to the President for his support for space exploration and for reestablishing the National Space Council whose efforts have helped to guide and promote the Artemis Program.

And this book is also dedicated to those in flight operations who will guide the Artemis crews to their destinations. They are the ones who will make our lunar and planetary dreams come true. In that regard, let me also dedicate this book to my first Flight Director, Christopher Columbus Kraft, who recently took a lofty post high in the heavens to monitor all of our human space exploration activities.

If indeed the next human missions to the Moon will occur approximately in the years 2024–2028, leading to missions to Mars in the late 2030’s or early 2040’s, then those Artemis astronauts are now about 40. If the Martian astronauts are as experienced and educated as today’s and are also about 40 or even 50 when they are launched off to Mars, then they could be in school now! If the mission to Mars slips, they could be just cute little kids now. This book is therefore also dedicated to those future explorers and those who are blessed with the desire to study, learn, gaze up at the Moon… and wonder.

Other Springer-Praxis Books by Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried

Stratonauts: Pioneers Venturing into the Stratosphere

ISBN: 978-3-319-02900-9

The Birth of NASA: The Work of the Space Task Group, America’s First True Space Pioneers

ISBN: 978-3-319-28426-2

Exploring the Martian Moons: A Human Mission to Deimos and Phobos

ISBN: 978-3-319-52699-7

Apollo Mission Control: The Making of a National Historic Landmark

ISBN: 978-3-319-76683-6

From Cave Man to Cave Martian: Living in Caves on the Earth, Moon and Mars

ISBN: 978-3-030-05407-6

Preface

Here we are in the year 2020 at the beginning of a new space program to return to the Moon. I remember the beginning of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, and what was then called Space Station Freedom. This time, it feels different. As usual the pronouncements are the same; a President makes a bold statement about space exploration and challenges the nation to reach for the stars. Then NASA’s Administrator puts a case to Congress, seeking to obtain the necessary funding. But this time, Congress doesn’t show much interest and is divided on just about every subject; even space. But the timing coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the first lunar landing, and the public remembers that historical event with great national pride. In 2019 NASA received its highest ratings in 20 years. Some 63% of Americans rate NASA’s performance as excellent or good, slightly higher than its 40% to 60% ratings since 1999. That should help get the agency’s budget approved for the Artemis Lunar Program.

And this time there is a subtle twist in the programmatic process; it seems that to sell the new Artemis Program’s return to the Moon, NASA has thrown in another goal, Mars, to provide a greater sense of purpose. In his Space Policy Directive 1, signed on December 11, 2017, President Trump wrote: This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprints; we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars, and perhaps someday, to many worlds beyond. This book will discuss how Artemis might relate to a mission to Mars, of course, but right now the cost of Artemis itself will surely delay any serious human mission to Mars for some considerable time to come.

While parts of the Artemis Lunar Program such as the launch vehicle and crew spacecraft started over a decade ago, they began as major elements of different programs that were cancelled, leaving them to be reconfigured for whatever was next – and that is now Artemis. Fortunately, NASA and the aerospace industry have been learning from the International Space Station Program for a couple of decades. Many of those elements such as habitats, logistics modules, power and environmental control systems, and suchlike, are directly applicable to Artemis. The thousands of experiments and operations conducted over the years have also added to the knowledge and technology bases that are driving the designs of the Artemis elements, including the orbital and lunar surface systems, and research payloads. Consequently, NASA, the U.S. commercial spaceflight industry, and our international partners such as ESA, Canada, Japan and Russia are ready and willing to support Artemis.

The book will describe the research, science, technology and engineering efforts that will support several flights to a small station called a Gateway that is placed in a rather peculiar, distant orbit. When ready to descend to the Moon, the crew will take a Transfer Vehicle along with a Lunar Lander comprising descent and ascent stages down to a low and more familiar lunar orbit. From there, they will descend to the lunar surface, where they will carry out a variety of tasks that use both onboard and prepositioned scientific and logistics payloads provided by the commercial space industry and, perhaps, by our international partners.

These mission planning concepts have attracted criticism; consequently, the pros and cons related to the Gateway and Artemis Lunar Program are included in this book in the words of the individuals concerned. Also discussed are advancements in power systems, artificial intelligence, robotics, navigation, radiation shielding, optical communications, deep space tracking, and more. Although many of these efforts began long before the announcement of the Artemis Lunar Program, they were directly applicable and are now necessary for its success.

The broad scientific community has held numerous workshops over the years that helped to prioritize their scientific focus. They have developed their findings and recommendations to the point where specific lunar investigations and instruments can be proposed. They are developing payloads for lunar exploration and are fully committed to supporting Artemis. The initial plan is to land near suspected water-ice locations close to the South Pole, but long term ambitions envisage exploring other interesting locations. Operational factors, plus concerns associated with the planned landing sites are discussed.

The objectives for the first several missions are discussed, as well as for Artemis missions about a decade into the future that will seek to establish a sustained lunar base of operations. These activities, especially those that involve the processing of regolith in order to obtain oxygen, hydrogen, breathable air and potable water are discussed. Only when the crews can extract useable resources from the Moon will a sustainable lunar base of operations become feasible. The lessons learned on the Moon will lead us to Mars.

The book will attempt to describe every element, vehicle, and module now being planned; discussing their studies and contract awards. Elements provided by the evolving commercial space industry and our international partners are included. Advancements in technologies spanning the spectrum of applications for the new lunar exploration program will be discussed. This book will inform the reader of how the Artemis Lunar Program got started. In effect, it will serve as a prologue to the next era of lunar exploration.

The many appendices provide explanations of the rather strange new lunar orbit, solar and nuclear electric power systems, advanced technologies and, not least, a mythical woman named Artemis. Also included is a discussion about past and present crews, plus a prediction about crew selection and timing for a mission to Mars. And to add to the overall visual presentation there are over a hundred color images, hours of video links, and pertinent references. In attempting to describe the current dream of lunar exploration, I have added a dash of caution and hope along with a sprinkle of realism (after all, I have observed space exploration for nearly sixty years with its ups and downs). I hope you enjoy the book and keep it handy as a reference as the program evolves over the years.

Artemis 1, T-Minus 5 years and counting

Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried

Leander, TX

Acknowledgments

Unlike my other books on aviation and space where I could draw on my personal experiences and history, this book is about a program that is just starting. While some elements of the Artemis Lunar Program have been underway for years, the program, as formally announced, is only a couple of years old. The mission that starts the flight phase is about five more years into the future. There was a flight of a boilerplate Orion spacecraft in 2014, and several qualification tests, but they occurred prior to the beginning of the Artemis Program. Even in its infancy, the program is controversial; not in its scientific intent but in its costs, concepts, and planning. But perhaps this is a good time to write about the Artemis Program, in that the story is out there in bits and pieces and is evolving rapidly. So I want to thank my publisher, Springer-Praxis, for allowing me the opportunity to produce this prologue to the history of the second human attempt to explore our nearest celestial neighbor; two generations since the first lunar landing.

So firstly let me acknowledge the reviewers of my proposal to the publisher: Dr. David M. Harland, prolific author and editor, Glasgow, Scotland; Dr. Pascal Lee, Director, Mars Institute; Gerry Griffin, former Apollo Flight Director and former Director of the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, William D. Reeves, former Space Shuttle Flight Director and President of the Manned Spaceflight Operations Association, Friendswood, TX, and one other person who remained anonymous.

Also, many thanks go to the people who have given me the opportunity to write about this new human space program, particularly: Maury Solomon and Hannah Kaufman of Springer in New York, Clive Horwood of Praxis in Chichester in England, and cover designer Jim Wilkie in Guildford, England. A special thanks to David Harland, who edited this, my sixth Springer-Praxis book and seventh in total. After over six years of communications solely by email, I hope to finally to meet and thank him in person someday.

I would also like to acknowledge all those people that contributed hundreds of research papers related to lunar science. Many of these papers are listed in the References. While most are focused on lunar science, engineering and satellites, they have relevance to the exploration of both the Moon and Mars because they investigate space analogs and add elements to the knowledge base for future expeditions.

Many other scientists are mentioned in the References, along with their reports. In addition to contributions from many individuals, I acknowledge the assistance of Wikipedia and Google. These enabled me to fill in the pieces of the puzzle on just about any subject. Their inputs are woven into many sections. A special thanks to all the space journalists who have covered activities over the past years; especially since the Artemis Program was announced. Their reports about critical and timely events were very useful. I would also like to acknowledge those space journalists and enthusiasts who have video blogs on YouTube. They fuel the public interest in space exploration, and often they are the first to report space related events.

I also thank NASA and ESA for their websites and inputs. They were insightful. The Artemis Lunar Program is supported by many companies in the traditional aerospace industry, such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, and also by those commercial space companies formed in the last decade or so, such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Bigelow. I found all their websites useful too. Many of the hundreds of companies participating in Artemis appear in the book, particularly those studying, designing or providing elements, modules, habitats, systems and other aspects of the program.

Thanks everyone, I hope you like the book and find it a handy quick reference.

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 The Artemis Lunar Program Overview 7

2.​1 Nasa’s Concept 7

2.​2 Summary of the Elements 14

2.​3 The Controversy 31

2.​4 The Budget 40

2.​5 Politics 45

3 Spacecraft, Landers, Rovers and Payloads 48

3.​1 Commercial Spacecraft 48

3.​2 Commercial Lunar Payload Services 55

3.​3 Commercial Payloads and Instruments 64

3.​4 Lunar Science Participation 67

3.​5 Landing Sites 69

4 Elements, Landers, Launch Vehicles and Upper Stages 75

4.​1 Power and Propulsion Element (Ppe) 75

4.​2 Habitat and Logisics Modules 78

4.​3 Crew Landers and Transfer Element Studies 89

4.​4 Launch Vehicles 98

4.​5 Upper Stages 106

5 NASA and Commercial Crew Development 111

5.​1 Crew Selection and Training 111

5.​2 Commercial Crew ISS Missions 116

5.​3 Artemis Missions 116

5.​4 The Next Generation Space Suit 117

5.​5 Commercial Crew Space Suits 124

5.​6 Crew Health 127

6 Artemis Lessons for Exploration 130

6.​1 Utility of the Gateway 131

6.​2 Sustainability 132

6.​3 Impact on Future Hardware Design 135

6.​4 Long Duration Science Operations 139

6.​5 Launch Vehicle Payload Capability 144

7 Enabling Technology Advances 147

7.​1 Nasa Programs 147

7.​2 Navigation and Precision Landing 155

7.​3 Deep Space Atomic Clock 157

7.​4 In-Situ Resource Utilization 159

7.​5 Lunar Power 162

7.​6 Protection from Radiation 170

7.​7 Advances in Optical Communications 179

7.​8 Lunar IceCube 181

8 Artemis Influence on Mars Planning 184

8.​1 Mission Concepts and Plans 184

8.​2 Technologies and Capabilities 185

8.​3 Artemis Science Influence on Mars 186

8.​4 Robotics 187

8.​5 Regolith Mining and Processing 191

8.​6 3D Printing 192

9 Conclusions 200

Appendices 204

1 The National Space Council’s Role in Artemis and Mars 204

2 Community Letter to Congress Regarding NASA’s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program 210

3 NASA’s Gateway Memorandum for the Record 215

4 Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit 219

5 Solar Electric Propulsion and Hall Effect Thrusters 224

6 Technology 229

7 Timeline 243

8 Artemis Mythology 246

9 The Moon Village Association 252

10 The Chinese Lunar Program 255

11 Crew Selection:​ A History and Prediction 262

12 Quotes 277

References 280

Glossary 292

About the Author 300

Index 303

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

M. von EhrenfriedThe Artemis Lunar ProgramSpringer Praxis Bookshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38513-2_1

1. Introduction

Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried¹  

(1)

Leander, TX, USA

Manfred Dutch von Ehrenfried

In 2019 we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the first lunar landing, and as we look to the future of space and a return to the Moon, it must be remembered that the total time that humans have spent on the Moon is about 11 days, and, of that time, astronauts were out on the surface for only 80 hours! We do know how to get there and back, we deployed a lot of lunar experiments on the surface for the scientists, and we brought back 382 kg (842 lb) of samples for them to study; as they have been for the past half century. That’s the extent of our total knowledge base as far as human exploration of the Moon is concerned! We also know a lot from the orbiting satellites and landers. Now, two generations later, the increased desire to return has finally led us to this moment in time; a possible, but uncertain opportunity to return to the Moon; this time to explore and hopefully build a base of operations.

The Artemis Lunar Program is a new crewed spaceflight program by NASA, the U.S. commercial aerospace industry, and our international partners including ESA (now representing 22 countries), Canada, Japan, and Russia. Perhaps China might become involved, because they have a spacecraft orbiting the L2 Lagrange point beyond the Moon to relay signals to and from their lander on the far side of the Moon, and could also be used in some cases for relaying data to the Gateway; a mini space station in a strange new orbit called the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) which exploits the L1 Lagrange position between Earth and the Moon. The goal, now, is to land the first woman and the next man on the lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin by 2024. But that target is a bit misleading, in that the Aitken Basin is roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and 13 km (8.1 mi) deep, so is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System. It lies on the far side of the Moon. The initial Artemis lunar exploration is planned for the South Pole, on the rim of the Aitkin Basin, at a location that will have a line of sight to Earth and the Gateway.

One of NASA’s rationales for the Artemis Lunar Program is that the experiences and lessons learned from lunar missions will enable the exploration of Mars. As NASA Administrator James Bridenstine said, The Moon is the proving ground; Mars is the destination. Presented at the 70th Annual International Astronomical Congress in Washington, D.C., in October, 2019, his speech From the Moon to Mars has become the theme of the nation’s lunar exploration program. People who envisage a mission to Mars that is independent of Artemis are open to the technologies being developed for Artemis and lessons that will be learned from lunar operations. There are direct connections between the Moon and Mars: the Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion crew spacecraft, the launch complexes, deep space tracking and communications facilities, and other systems on Earth such as the Mission Control Center and supporting science facilities. It’s hard to leave home without those fundamental elements, regardless of your destination.

In 2019, NASA laid out a notional plan for a return to the Moon by 2024 and a sustained human presence on its surface by 2028. This included 37 launches, 8 of which would involve the SLS, the remainder being commercially supplied launch vehicles. The plan also included nearly 50 elements/modules/vehicles, landers and rovers. In comparison, between 1962 and 1972 – a similar period of time – NASA planned and conducted the Apollo Program using just two different Saturn launch vehicles, two different Command Modules, two different Lunar Modules and one type of Lunar Rover. In addition, they built all the ground based elements needed to support those missions. However, Apollo was not intended to pave the way for a Lunar Base; it was expeditionary in that crews were restricted to 3 days on the surface, primarily because of the limitations of the Lunar Module. And, of course, that was a very different time with a strong sense of urgency. The Artemis Lunar Program is planning a sustainable cislunar capability and a sustainable surface exploration program. The long term vision is a Lunar Base from which to explore the Moon and conduct scientific, engineering, and operational investigations with potential applications for deep space exploration; most particularly to Mars. There are people who also look to the possibility of commercial applications from those endeavors.

In the religion and myth of ancient Greece, Artemis was goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, the Moon, and chastity. She was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the sister of Apollo (there is one account which stated she was the older sister; not the twin). Perhaps this is one of the reasons NASA has said they want women astronauts in the new program; women have clearly demonstrated their worth in both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs. Unfortunately, women were shut out of the nation’s first space program, Project Mercury. The first woman astronaut to the Moon will become the modern space age equivalent of Artemis. But her space suit will not come equipped with a bow and quiver of arrows, it will have a harness of extravehicular activity (EVA) tools and a geological hammer.

While the Artemis Lunar Program’s inertia wheel is spinning up for the so-called Gateway to the Moon, there is evidently some built-in friction that may impede the spin up to full speed ahead. There is some discussion of the need for the lunar Gateway, as opposed to just flying directly to the Moon. Some have envisioned a lunar program described as Apollo on Steroids. That is to say, go directly to the Moon with larger and more capable landers with the intent not only to stay longer but also to slowly build up a sustainable infrastructure.

The Artemis mission concept as stated by NASA is to:

Demonstrate new technologies, capabilities, and business approaches needed for future exploration, including Mars.

Establish American leadership and a strategic presence on the Moon while expanding U.S. global economic impact.

Broaden our commercial and international partnerships.

Inspire a new generation and encourage careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Perhaps it is obvious that you do not need an orbiting Gateway to do any of the above; they can all be accomplished using direct missions to the lunar surface. Some argue that you need to have the Gateway to prove the technology for the habitats and other elements, but really those can be demonstrated in Earth orbit more readily than in lunar orbit; that has been the role of the International Space Station (ISS) for the last two decades. Over 230 astronauts have flown to the ISS. It has provided new tools for EVA and the means of enhancing crew habitability and life support systems. The hundreds of engineering and scientific experiments conducted there have improved the state-of-the-art for many disciplines that will be applied to the design of the Artemis missions. We have now reached the point where we can reasonably say we know how to live and work in space and create the hardware and software needed to go back to the Moon. What we don’t know how to do is to live and work on the Moon.

Perhaps less apparent, is that NASA could have avoided all the complexities of the Artemis Lunar Program and gone directly back to the Moon, if only it had a Super Heavy Lift launch vehicle like the Saturn V, which could deliver nearly 50 metric tons to the point of Trans Lunar Injection. But that decision was made during the Apollo era. In 1973, the final Saturn V launch put the Skylab space station into Earth orbit. Lacking such a launch capability, the mission planners had to devise an operating concept that could be achieved using less powerful launchers, in particular the SLS and the evolving stable of commercial rockets.

Strictly speaking, it isn’t necessary to use the SLS to send payloads to the Moon. In fact, it is unlikely that the SLS will ever be used to directly place payloads on the Moon. Launching hardware could be contracted out to commercial providers of launch vehicles plus cargo and habitat modules. The SLS will be reserved for crewed flights to the orbiting Gateway. From there, the crew will take a Transfer Vehicle along with a Lunar Lander which consists of descent and ascent stages similar in concept to the Apollo Lunar Modules. The role of the Transfer Vehicle is to transition from the very distant Halo orbit to a close proximity lunar orbit in order to position the crew for descent to the lunar surface. This vehicle is now in the competitive planning and preliminary design phase. A contract award for the final design will probably be made in 2020.

NASA no longer has the budget that they enjoyed during the Apollo era in the 1960’s, which was about 4.3% of the national budget. After all, it was the Cold War and there was a sense of urgency. Now there is no great sense of national defense urgency and NASA has all but 0.5% of the national budget to cover all their programs; about an eighth of what it once had. The overall NASA FY 2020 budget request was initially supplemented with an increase of $1.6 billion. About a third of that went to the SLS, which is behind schedule and well over in budget. The rest went to Orion, crew landers, robotics, and the Gateway itself. Both Vice President Mike Pence and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine have vigorously promoted the Artemis Program using the Gateway approach. Despite some vocal opposition, the inertia of this program is now starting to build up.

This book on the Artemis Lunar Program includes the associated Gateway and the lunar surface activities that are expected in the next decade or so. It also describes the Commercial Lunar Payload Services activities and their roles in the context of the Artemis Program, including the crew, vehicles, and science payloads. While a relationship to the Mars program is touted by NASA, this is primarily because of President Trump’s Space Policy Directive 1 of December 11, 2017, which called upon NASA to lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system, and to bring back to Earth new knowledge and opportunities. This will organize government, private industry and international efforts toward returning human on the Moon and will lay the foundation for future human exploration in space. This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprints – we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars, and perhaps someday, to many worlds beyond.

In reality, there is nothing in the plan for the Gateway that will ever fly to Mars. Even the Artemis version of Orion couldn’t make that journey; it would have to be extensively modified for such a long and difficult trip. Nor is it necessary to leave for Mars from the Gateway, or whatever that might eventually evolve into. What NASA means by such a general and rather misleading statement is that we will learn from the Artemis experience; there may be some technology transfer, and the lessons learned will be applied in planning an eventual mission to Mars.

This book will describe activities that might enable ongoing efforts for missions to Mars – with or without involving the Gateway. Research,