Why a Lunar Gateway might be a good idea

Tim Knowles
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read
Lunar Gateway Concept

What does the U.S. want to do to advance Human Space Flight? Do we want to expand beyond low Earth orbit? What is the smallest meaningful incremental advancement the U.S. could make that would be sustainable?

Do we want to put a colony on the Moon? Do we want to put a human on Mars? Do we believe the U.S. will make the substantial commitment to do those things in one go?

We don’t even have a human to orbit capability what confidence the U.S. would sustain the prolonged effort to do the Moon or Mars? I think we need to build a sustainable infrastructure as stepping stones. I believe that those stepping stones should be shared with partners. A gateway a habitat some where in cislunar space would seem a reasonable next step. When Orion is qualified along with the Space Launch System we can move on to the next step and the time scales for each increment are so long we need to plan today for what we will do decades in advance. Each increment needs to be small enough that it is likely to be completed and sustainable so that it will be preserved.

I support the Lunar Gateway but I would prefer that the trajectory for its utilization was from the International Space Station not bypassing the Station. I would have liked to see the Translunar increment be designed to be reusable. The Space Tug. We have neglected the development of “on orbit propellant transfer.” Not completely, some have been working on that development but it has not matured so instead of creating that infrastructure we just bypassed it in favor of “Lunar Sooner.” Well, haste makes waste so we will be throwing away a Translunar Stage every time we leave low Earth Orbit.

I am not angry just disappointed. I am also disappointed that our cooperation with Russia on the International Space Station put the Station in an Orbit with a 52 deg. inclination. I understand the need for compromise but political compromise that undermines technical execution is disappointing but without political support we will do nothing.

With “in space propellant transfer” we could have a reusable lunar lander, preferably two for redundancy and safety. If you are on the Moon wouldn’t you feel better if you have a redundant ride home? With a Lunar Gateway you could have a pit stop leaving the Moon where you could be secure while a back up ride back to Earth could be dispatched if your original ride home is having trouble.

We can be cowboys just go for broke or we can have a robust sustainable plan with back ups and redundancy. We could have infrastructure that will last decades or we could have a disposable system that has to be rebuilt for every accomplishment.

Notice I have not said Mars since my second paragraph. Tortoise and the Hare. We will go to Mars and stay only if we think long term and build space infrastructure, building blocks and stepping stones.

I some times imagine that if we had a Lunar Gateway that some entrepreneur would make a deal to attach a commercial resort to the Gateway and it would be visited by adventurers like some of the citizen astronauts who visited station on excess Soyuz capacity.

If Elon builds the BFR and sends people to Mars that is great but that plan still has a lot of holes and it is quite a stretch. I would hate to need a hole in one to win the match. Better to win with pars and birdies with no bogies.

To paraphrase Robert A. Heinlein, “Mars Is a Harsh Master” the number of Mars probes that failed is legend.

TEK

Tim Knowles
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