William Atkins
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 23:18
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 2
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) just finished a six-month assessment (in July 2008) of possible projects the two space agencies could team up on for future exploration of the Moon and establishment of lunar outposts.
Representatives from
NASA and
ESA talked about their “Comparative Architecture Assessment” during a integrated architecture review meeting at the ESA European Space Research and Technology Centre (Noordwijk, The Netherlands).
The July 9, 2008 NASA news release “
NASA and ESA complete comparative exploration architecture study,” summarized the conclusions of the assessment when it stated, “
Findings from the study included a significant mutual interest in the potential development of lunar cargo landing systems, communication and navigation systems, lunar orbital infrastructures, and lunar surface systems, such as habitats or mobility systems. The study also identified the significant value gained from redundant human crew transportation capability.”
Geoff Yoder, who is the director of the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Integration Office (Washington, D.C.), stated,
“We are very pleased to have worked with ESA on this comparative architecture assessment. Since the announcement of the U.S. Space Exploration Policy, NASA has sought and welcomed input from its international partners on NASA's lunar architecture plans in areas of mutual interest.”
Yoder added,
“As future exploration plans mature around the world, it is becoming increasingly important that we seek compatibilities between NASA's plans and those of its potential future partners. The work we did with ESA will serve as a model for discussions with other potential partners as we begin to implement this very exciting mission."
In parallel to Yoder’s comments, Bruno Gardini, who is the manager of the ESA Exploration Program, stated,
“ESA is preparing itself for a round of decisions that will mark Europe's role in human spaceflight and exploration for the decades to come. After the satisfaction of the successful deployment of the Columbus module and Automated Transfer Vehicle, we are looking forward to enhancing our role in the partnership for a sustained and robust space exploration program, where human spaceflight is the cornerstone.”
Gardini continued,
“The moon is surely an important case study and useful test bed to thoroughly prepare for more distant destinations. This architecture work is very useful to prioritize our proposals to European decision-makers and define a European strategy."
Future exploration plans for both space agencies are discussed on page 2.
