The Gateway Space Station's Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) has completed basic static load testing in Italy and is undergoing final preparations in Arizona. The module, which is critical to United States' NASA lunar and Martian ambitions, will be launched aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy spacecraft to facilitate the expansion of lunar exploration.
The Gateway space station, which will be the first human space station to orbit the Moon, is an important part of the Artemis mission, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface for scientific discoveries and point the course for the first human mission to Mars. The astronauts aboard Gateway will be the first humans to call deep space home, and during the mission, they will use Gateway for scientific research and preparation for lunar missions. Image credits: NASA, Alberto Bertolin, Bradley Reynolds
The Gateway space station's residential and logistical outpost successfully completed static load tests in Turin, Italy. With the completion of this phase of stress testing, the module is one step closer to the final equipment before it is launched into lunar orbit.
At the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy, Gateway's residential and logistics outpost stands vertically after completing static load testing. Image credit: Thales Alenia Aerospace
Gateway's HALO (Residential and Logistics Outpost) successfully completed a static load test, a rigorous stress test designed to test how well the structure responds to forces encountered in deep space. Thales Aleniaspace, a subcontractor of Northrop Grumman, conducted tests in Turin, Italy. Static load testing is one of the main environmental stress tests that "HALO" will undertake, and once all phases of testing are complete, the module will be ready to be shipped from Italy to Gilbert, Arizona, where Northrop Grumman will complete the final assembly.
HALO is one of four pressurized "Gateway" modules where astronauts will live, conduct scientific research, and prepare for missions to the Moon's South Pole region. It will be launched into lunar orbit aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from SpaceX along with Gateway's power and propulsion elements.
At the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin, Italy, Gateway's residential and logistics outpost stands vertically after completing static load testing. Image credit: Thales Alenia Aerospace
As part of United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Artemis program, Gateway, humanity's first lunar space station, will support a new era of exploration and scientific discovery, and the program will establish a sustained presence on and around the Moon, paving the way for the first manned mission to Mars.
编译自/SciTechDaily