[NASA] Gateway: Energizing Exploration

[SpaceMan 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Two engineers in cleanroom suits work on the Power and Propulsion Element at Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California.

Maxar Space Systems

Technicians work diligently to assemble a key power element of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, the lunar space station that will become the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown.

Gateway’s

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

will use the largest

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

ever built – together about the size of an ********* football field endzone – to harness the Sun’s energy for deep space exploration. The module is built by Maxar Space Systems in Palo Alto, California, and managed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. That includes energizing

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

to produce the thrust needed to send Gateway from Earth to lunar orbit and keep it there for the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, V, and VI missions. On those missions and beyond, international teams of astronauts will expand Gateway with additional living and working space, and will journey to the lunar South Pole region from Gateway.

The Power and Propulsion Element will power Gateway’s subsystems and enable telecommunications between the lunar surface, the space station, Earth, and back again. Building on technology advancements from past successful electric propulsion missions like

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

(Double Asteroid Redirection Test), the module will help NASA expand the boundaries of what’s possible in deep space.

NASA and its international partners will explore the scientific mysteries of deep space with Gateway, humanity’s first space station around the Moon. The international teams of astronauts living and conducting science on Gateway will be the first humans to make their home in deep space.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

A type of advanced electric propulsion system thruster that will be used on Gateway glows blue as it emits ionized xenon gas during testing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.

NASA

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

An artist’s rendering of the Gateway space station, which will be humanity’s first space station around the Moon as a vital component of the Artemis missions to return humans to the lunar surface for scientific discovery and chart the path for the first human missions to Mars.

NASA/Alberto Bertolin

Artist’s rendering of Gateway in its initial configuration, featuring the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) connected to the Power and Propulsion Element.

NASA

Learn More About Gateway

Explore More

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

2 min read

Earth to Gateway: Electric Field Tests Enhance Lunar Communication

Learn how engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center are using electric field testing to optimize…

Article 3 weeks ago

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

3 min read

Gateway: Up Close in Stunning Detail

Witness Gateway in stunning detail with this video that brings the future of lunar exploration…

Article 2 months ago

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png">

2 min read

Through Astronaut Eyes, Virtual Reality Propels Gateway Forward  

NASA astronauts are using virtual reality to explore Gateway. When they slip on their headsets,…

Article 4 months ago

Share

Details

Last Updated

Aug 22, 2024

Editor

Briana R. Zamora

Contact

Briana R. Zamora

briana.r*****@*****.tld

Location

Johnson Space Center

Related Terms

• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up