NASA has released a detailed 3D animation of its Gateway projectthe first space station to orbit the Moon for deep space missions, and which is planned for the end of this decade.
The one-and-a-half-minute video, which can be seen below, shows its modules and structural components from various angles with the darkness of space as a background.
From the mission Artemis 4 In 2028, international teams of astronauts living, conducting scientific research, and preparing for missions to the lunar South Pole region at Gateway will be the first humans to make their home in deep space.
This artistic computer-generated animation presents an exterior tour of Gateway in stunning detail. The Gateway elements represented are:
- Power and Propulsion Element, which will make Gateway the most powerful solar-electric spacecraft ever launched. The module will use energy from the Sun to power the space station’s subsystems and ionize xenon gas to produce the thrust that will maintain Gateway’s unique polar orbit around the Moon.
- HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost), the Gateway command and control nexus that provides communications between Earth and the lunar surface with the Lunar Link system provided by ESA (European Space Agency). HALO will house life support systems, including exercise equipment and scientific payload banks.
- Lunar I-Bedprovided by ESA and with contributions from hardware from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), will house environmental control and life support systems, bedrooms and a kitchen, among other features.
- Lunar Viewprovided by ESA, will have refueling capabilities for the power and propulsion element, cargo storage and large windows.
- Crew and Science Airlockprovided by the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Center of the United Arab Emirates, for the transfer of the crew and the hardware from inside Gateway to the vacuum of space.
- Canadarm3 Advanced External Robotic System provided by CSA (Canadian Space Agency).
- Deep Space Logistics spacecraft, which will transport cargo to Gateway to support the Artemis missions. Gateway’s first scientific payloads, which will study solar and cosmic radiation, a poorly understood phenomenon that is a major concern for people and equipment traveling through deep space, including Mars. The payloads visible in this video are ERSA (European Radiation Sensors Array), provided by ESA and coupled to the power and propulsion element; and HERMES (Heliophysics Environmental and Radiation Measurement Experiment Suite), led by NASA and coupled to HALO. A third scientific radiation payload, IDA (Internal Dosimeter Array), provided by ESA and JAXA, will be inside HALO.
The video also shows a Orion spacecraft docked to the airlock for crew and science. Orion will transport international astronaut teams and three modules (Lunar I-Hab, Lunar View, and the crew and science airlock) to the Gateway space station.
Also included is the Government-reference Human Landing System (HLS) that will transport astronauts to and from the lunar South Pole region. SpaceX and Blue Origin are contracted to provide Starship HLS and Blue Moon HLS, respectively.
