Final Announcement
Meeting Location and Date
NASA is hosting a workshop February 27-March 1, 2018 to consider how the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway in the Moon’s orbit can facilitate new scientific discoveries in a breadth of fields. The workshop participants were invited based on the merit of their abstracts, or because of their areas of expertise. As we intend to gather information by engaging in direct and breakout discussions with the nearly 300 attendees, the workshop will not be streamed online. This workshop will lead to a better understanding of what resources would be required to conduct a variety of science investigations in cislunar space using the gateway.
Media are invited to the summary sessions scheduled for the afternoon of February 28 through the afternoon of March 1, and we have several who are planning to attend. We will post a summary of the workshop online when it concludes, and abstract submissions are posted online now: https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/deepspace2018/pdf/program.pdf.
Introduction
NASA is formulating concepts for a deep space gateway in the lunar vicinity as the next step in human exploration of the solar system. Early integration of science and exploration is critical for the creation of a successful program. NASA is sponsoring a workshop with the target outcome of a report that articulates science research that could be made possible through new opportunities provided by the deep space gateway concept. The product of this workshop serves multiple purposes, including input to upcoming NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Decadal Surveys, guidance for NASA Human Exploration and Operations (HEOMD) exploration mission architectures, value propositions for space opportunities and platforms, augmented content for applied research programs from space, and new enabling opportunities for international partnerships and collaborations.
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of this workshop is to discuss what science could be leveraged from a deep space gateway, as well as first-order determination of what instruments are required to acquire the scientific data. Some science investigations may require the crew, while others might operate autonomously, using the infrastructure (e.g., power, communications) that the gateway could provide. NASA would aggregate the gateway in cislunar space, where it is expected to be capable of moving between lunar orbits over its lifetime to maximize options for science and exploration operations. A power and propulsion element, habitation capability, logistics module(s), and an airlock would be delivered during early SLS and Orion missions. A smaller science airlock and externally attached robotic arm could be used to transfer items (e.g., sample return canister, or long-duration dust collector) in and out of the gateway. Other external instruments could be mounted in a variety of look directions.
