NASA's dreams of a moon base may still be far from reality, but a deep-space outpost near the far side of the moon could be an intermediate step toward further space exploration.
A recent NASA memo explores the possibility of building a human-tended, deep space outpost near Earth-moon libration point 2 (EML-2), a place where Earth and the moon's gravitational pulls cancel each other out.
Such a station could be a gateway for exploring the moon, asteroids and Mars, allowing robotic spacecraft to venture far into space and providing supplies for space vehicles, NASA told Space.com. It would require astronauts traveling farther into space than in the Apollo missions, and staying there for longer than ever before.
The plan also requires "significant international participation" and "U.S. commercial business opportunities to further enhance the space station logistics market." Furthermore, NASA would like to see "multiuse or reusable in-space infrastructure that allows a capability to be developed and reused over time for a variety of exploration destinations."
In other words, NASA expects space exploration to become a joint project between all interested parties, with some standards put in place, making further endeavors cheaper and easier.
This route, however, is not set in stone. In its recently published Global Exploration Roadmap, NASA looks into several possible scenarios for space exploration in the next 25 years, and a deep space outpost in EML-2 is just one possible option.
Hence, NASA has assigned a study team with the task of developing possible near-term missions to EML-2 by March 30. The results of the study will hopefully shed more light on the viability of EML-2 missions and shape the future of space exploration.
Check out some of our favorite space-related stories from 2011, in the slideshow below.
Image courtesy of NASA