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NASA ogłosiła wstrzymanie prac nad stacją orbitalną Gateway i skupienie się na budowie bazy na powierzchni Księżyca. Od 2019 roku wydano już ok. 4,5 mld dolarów na ten program, a części stacji są w trakcie budowy w fabrykach na całym świecie. Kluczowy moduł Gateway – Power and Propulsion Element – ma zostać przebudowany na demonstrator napędu jądrowo-elektrycznego i wysłany w głęboki kosmos, w kierunku Marsa.

NASA's announcement Tuesday that it will "pause" work on a lunar space station and focus on building a surface base on the Moon was no big surprise to anyone paying attention to the Trump administration's space policy. But what should NASA do with hardware already built for the Gateway outpost? NASA spent close to $4.5 billion on developing a human-tended complex in orbit around the Moon since the Gateway program's official start in 2019. There are pieces of the station undergoing construction and testing in factories scattered around the world. The centerpiece of Gateway, called the Power and Propulsion Element, is closest to being ready for launch. NASA's rejigged exploration roadmap, revealed Tuesday in an all-day event at NASA headquarters in Washington, calls for repurposing the core module for a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration in deep space.Read full article Comments