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Another giant leap to the moon planned

Alok Jha

The new vehicle has solar panels to provide power and astronauts will use it to get into moon orbit.

LONDON: Astronauts could be walking on the moon once again by 2018 under ambitious plans unveiled by NASA. And they will get there in Apollo-style spacecraft that hark back to the glory days of the space race.

The announcement marks a bold step for the embattled space agency, setting out an exploration plan for the next few decades. But critics argue that the moon-shot is set to be another of NASA's grand visions that, along with the space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS), will one day wither away through political apathy. In January 2004, U.S. President George Bush called for a return to human space exploration of the moon by 2020 and Mars expeditions thereafter. Monday's report sets out the technical details of how that vision will be realised.

It has been a busy, and not altogether happy, 18 months for NASA since the President made his challenge. Understandably jittery after the Columbia accident of 2003, the space shuttle's return to flight was delayed numerous times this year. When Discovery did make it up to the ISS this summer, NASA engineers declared the mission only a partial success and subsequently grounded the entire shuttle fleet pending further safety enhancements.

Bearing this in mind, NASA's long-term plans to get beyond Earth orbit are a mixture of new and older, already-tested technologies. At the core is a re-useable Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will replace the space shuttle. It will carry four astronauts to and from the moon and can support up to six persons on any future missions to Mars. Shaped like one of the iconic Apollo capsules (but three times bigger), it harks back to the 1960s, when NASA represented America's pioneering spirit in space.

The new vehicle has solar panels to provide power and astronauts will use it to get into moon orbit. A separate, methane-powered lander will take the four astronauts on a seven-day mission on the lunar surface while the CEV orbits above on autopilot. And, while Apollo was limited to landings along the moon's equator, the new ship carries enough fuel to land anywhere on the moon's surface.

Using Apollo technology for inspiration made good technological sense, according to John Logsdon, director of George Washington University's space policy institute. The CEV's first mission is likely to be a low-Earth orbit, probably no earlier than 2012, leaving up to a two-year gap between the last shuttle flight and the debut of its successor.

NASA said each moon mission would build on the previous one with the intention of one day establishing a base on the lunar surface where crews might stay for up to six months. Robotic missions would lay the groundwork for the lunar base, pictured, before humans return in 2018. The equipment needed to get the crew up into space will be based around a solid rocket booster, of the type used currently by the space shuttle.

A second heavy lift system will be used to get heavy cargo loads of up to 125 tonnes up into space. Powered by a pair of longer solid rocket boosters and five space shuttle engines, it will be used to carry the non-crew components of any lunar bases or Mars expedition gear. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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