-
Tips for becoming a good boxer - November 6, 2020
-
7 expert tips for making your hens night a memorable one - November 6, 2020
-
5 reasons to host your Christmas party on a cruise boat - November 6, 2020
-
What to do when you’re charged with a crime - November 6, 2020
-
Should you get one or multiple dogs? Here’s all you need to know - November 3, 2020
-
A Guide: How to Build Your Very Own Magic Mirror - February 14, 2019
-
Our Top Inspirational Baseball Stars - November 24, 2018
-
Five Tech Tools That Will Help You Turn Your Blog into a Business - November 24, 2018
-
How to Indulge on Vacation without Expanding Your Waist - November 9, 2018
-
5 Strategies for Businesses to Appeal to Today’s Increasingly Mobile-Crazed Customers - November 9, 2018
NASA Mars Mission Receives $55 Million To Build Deep Space Habitat
NASA received $55 million from Congress to develop living quarters for future missions into deep space.
Advertisement
The funds are coming from the Advanced Exploration Systems program, and are granted under the Exploration Research and Development part of a larger $350 million bill.
The agency hasn’t described how it will use that funding.
NASA International Space Station director Sam Scimemi envisions habituation testing (as well as testing of other essential space tech) to take place during what he calls a “shakedown cruise” in cislunar space.
Buried in the latest omnibus spending bill from Congress, plans to build a deep-space-habitat.
The six astronauts are also scheduled to have the day off, NASA said, bringing a relaxing start to the year ahead.
In order to make the Mars mission a genuine journey, astronauts aboard Orion spacecraft need some space to live and some exercise equipments.
NASA has been given the all clear to power ahead with further preparation for deep space exploration. Additionally, cislunar (between Earth and moon) testing of the habitat technology will begin in the 2020s.
NASA has resisted providing details about how it will develop that habitation module, or even its requirements. The way Scimemi sees it, as soon as an early photograph gets released, people will instantly rush to assume that’s the final configuration of the habitat. For those glancing at the calendar, 2018 is just two short years away, meaning NASA has roughly 730 days to show off what could likely shape deep space travel for dozens of decades. Popular Science points out that it will be challenging to ensure the module is both lightweight and shields astronauts from radiation. It has also provided NextSTEP contracts to Dynetics, Hamilton Sundstrand and Orbital Technologies Corp.to study specific module technologies like life support systems. The “habitat projects will have initial performance periods of up to 12 months, at a value of $400,000 to $1 million for the study and development efforts, and the potential for follow-on phases to be defined during the initial phase”, according to NASA.
Advertisement
It looks like NASA will have speed up its game, and fast. NASA also needs to provide Congress a report within 180 days of the bill’s enactment, showing the status of the programme and the funds.