Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Orbiting lunar 'spaceport' planned for 2020s


UM-Bot

Recommended Posts

 

I hadn't heard that this had even reached the discussion phase.  Is an NRHO an oval orbit about a Lagrange point?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From the Astronomy article, it sounds like the plan is still "speculative".  Engineering standards for the modules have not been reached. There is still one group that wants a near  lunar orbit more fit to study the moon, so NRHO is not the unanimous choice, it does seem to be best for cost and safety. Thanks for the tip.  I googled some of the papers associated with this.  There is quite a bit of analysis.  Halo orbits seem to be very stable over time; the NRO's near the liberation points also very stable but offer some advantages for rendezvous trajectories for personnel and equipment.  If you haven't already read them, I bet some of the papers would   interest you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

As great as that would be, funding may be a hug issue.  If one country funds the station, isn't it a violation of the agreement non-military use of the Moon?  I know NASA isn't the military, but the two seem to work closely together at times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, paperdyer said:

As great as that would be, funding may be a hug issue.  If one country funds the station, isn't it a violation of the agreement non-military use of the Moon?  I know NASA isn't the military, but the two seem to work closely together at times.

From the article there are at least five space agencies involved so this would be no more military related than ISS.  Funding will definitely be an issue but the new administration has put manned flight back as a top mission, specifically getting to Mars and back, so should be interesting to see where this all ends up. 

I think that with all the commercial interest in landing on the Moon and setting up permanent bases that there should be commercial participation in paying for this station as it would provide a safe haven for those missions. 

.

Edited by Merc14
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, paperdyer said:

isn't it a violation of the agreement non-military use of the Moon? .

No for several reasons.

Firstly, the UN Moon Treaty bans the use of celestial bodies for military purposes has only been ratified by a hand-full of nations.. none of which are currently capable of launching satellites. Since the USA, Russia, China, Japan, India and the nations of the European Space Agency have not signed, never mind ratified, this treaty they would not be in breach of this piece of international law by using the Moon for military purposes.

The UN Outer Space Treaty, which the space-faring nations have  signed and ratified, forbids any nation from laying claim to any celestial body (including the Moon) and states that the Moon and other celestial bodies should be used for peaceful purposes. It would not prevent exploration by a military body as long as such a body did not set up a military base or take weapons of mass destruction into space.

Lastly, as you correctly point out, NASA is a civilian agency. The fact that it sometimes works with the military is irrelevant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.