The engine of the future lunar orbital station receives its tanks

Nov. 20 () –

The propulsion and power element of the future lunar space station Gateway recently received the liquid fuel and xenon tanks for their journey to and around the Moon.

This item will turn Gateway into the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever launched. Its construction is managed from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and executed by Maxar Space Systems of Palo Alto, California.

Once fully assembled and launched into lunar orbit, the propulsion and power element’s deployable solar panels (together the size of the end zone of an American football field) will harness the Sun’s energy to energize xenon gas and produce the thrust needed to bring Gateway into orbit of the Moon, where it will await the arrival of its first crew on the Artemis IV mission, currently planned for September 2028.

The propulsion and power element will also carry the European Radiation Sensors Array science experiment provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), one of three Gateway science experiments that will study solar radiation and cosmic. This little-understood phenomenon is a major concern for humans and hardware traveling to deep space destinations like Mars and beyond. NASA reports.

Intended to be developed, maintained and used in collaboration with commercial and international partners, Gateway will serve as a starting point for robotic and manned exploration of the lunar south poleand is the proposed starting point for NASA’s deep space transportation concept for human flights to Mars.