What does the “Deep Space Gateway” look like, where does this “portal” lead to, and what significance does it have for humanity?

Many friends may use their imagination to tune into the science fiction channel, wondering if the "deep space portal" is the legendary super-space portal. I admire and appreciate these friends who have a forward-looking vision, but I have to pour a bucket of cold water on them and let them return to reality.

Because the so-called "deep space portal" is something in our reality, it is a portal that transmits from reality to reality. This "portal" has already been built and will probably be assembled next year. This so-called "deep space portal" is a newly built lunar orbital space station. Some people call this space station "Deep Space Gate" and some call it "Deep Space Portal". This article temporarily adopts the term "Deep Space Portal" and abbreviates it to "Portal".

What does the Deep Space Gateway space station look like?

First of all, don’t think that this high-sounding “gateway” will be very large and spectacular. In fact, this “gateway” is very small. It is not only far smaller than the International Space Station, it is even smaller than our country’s space station.

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) released a set of pictures of this "Gateway" on its website, showing what the 2024 lunar launch will look like (see the picture above). From the appearance, this "Gateway" is a bit like a small-sized International Space Station, mainly composed of four modules, namely: power propulsion module, living module, cargo logistics module, and extravehicular activity module.

Some people say that if the International Space Station is compared to a luxury hotel, the "Gateway" is a bit like a roadside inn. Others compare the International Space Station to a six-bedroom apartment, while the "Gateway" is a one-bedroom apartment. In this way, everyone has a more intuitive concept of this "Gateway".

The interior of the "Gateway" is relatively narrow and can only accommodate up to four astronauts working inside, and they can only share some living facilities. Of course, this is just the beginning. With subsequent construction, this gateway space station may dock with more and more cabins, and therefore it will become larger and larger.

Countries involved in the construction of the Deep Space Gateway and how it works

The Deep Space Gateway is actually a continuation of the cooperation model of the International Space Station, which is still led by the United States and participated by 16 countries, including Russia, which once threatened to withdraw from the cooperation of the International Space Station. These 16 countries are the United States, Russia, 11 European Space Agency member states (France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland), Japan, Canada and Brazil.

In the construction of the Deep Space Gateway space station, the division of construction tasks undertaken by various countries is roughly as follows:

The power and propulsion module (PPE) was built by the United States; the communications and refueling module (ESPRIT) was built by the European Space Agency; the development and utilization module was built by the United States; the international living module was jointly built by the European Space Agency and Japan; the cargo supply module was built by the United States and Japan; the robotic arm was built by Canada; the American living module was built by the United States; the multi-purpose airtight cabin was built by Russia; the Orion spacecraft was built by the United States; and the Orion service module was built by the European Space Agency. (See the picture above)

Judging from the tasks undertaken by various countries, the future "Gateway" will be much more complex than the four modules shown now. On this space station, it can dock with Musk's giant Starship, NASA's main "bus" between the earth and the moon, and the Russian spacecraft. (Picture below)

The future manned lunar landing will completely change the model of manned lunar landing in the last century. The model of lunar landing in the last century was: the astronauts were directly delivered by the spacecraft, which had its own lander, and then the lander was directly released to land on the moon, and then the astronauts were picked up, entered the spacecraft, and flew back to the earth after abandoning the lunar module.

The lunar landing mode after the "Gateway" is: use a spacecraft to send astronauts to the "Gateway", then use a shuttle to pick up the astronauts and cargo from the gateway and descend to the moon to complete the mission, then use the shuttle to bring the personnel or cargo back to the "Gateway", and then use a spacecraft to bring the personnel back to Earth.

It has now been basically confirmed that the spacecraft that will pick up astronauts from the Earth to the "Gateway" in the future will be the Orion developed by NASA, which can transport 6 astronauts at a time; and the one that will undertake the shuttle mission from the "Gateway" to the lunar surface is Musk's SpaceX's SN giant starship, a behemoth that can carry 100 passengers or 100 tons of cargo at a time.

If the "Gateway" is still unable to undertake the docking mission by then, the SN starship will dock directly with the Orion spacecraft.

SpaceX has already obtained the contract as the sole supplier of lunar landers for NASA's Artemis program, so Musk's giant spacecraft is likely to become the shuttle between the lunar surface and the "Gateway". By then, a strange phenomenon will appear over the moon, with the huge SN starship docking on the thin "Gateway" or even docking on the tiny Orion spacecraft, which looks very strange. (Picture above: SN starship docking with Orion)

Construction plan and progress of the Deep Space Gateway space station

The Artemis program is a manned space program funded by the US government. Its goal is to send astronauts safely to the moon and return them in 2024, establish a normalized residence mechanism on the moon and its lunar orbit, and prepare for a manned landing mission on Mars around 2033.

The construction of the "Gateway" is a sub-item of the Artemis program and a key link. According to the plan announced by NASA, the construction period will start in 2019 and be basically completed by 2026. It is expected to be used as a relay station in the manned lunar mission in 2024.

Now, the core module PPE, living module and other modules that the United States is responsible for building have all been tendered and manufacturers have been determined. PPE was won by Maxa Technologies with a bid of US$375 million; the living module was manufactured by Grumman and Lockheed Martin respectively.

According to information disclosed by NASA, the manufacturing of these modules is in progress. The PPE adopts electric propulsion mode, Grumman's living module is converted from the existing "Cygnus" cargo spacecraft, and Lockheed Martin's living module is converted from the space shuttle container cabin, so they are all very fast. The former of the two living modules is smaller and can only accommodate astronauts for 30-60 days, while the latter can accommodate four astronauts for more than 3 months.

According to the plan, NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) will conduct its first launch in 2019, sending an unmanned Orion spacecraft into space for testing. The mission is code-named EM-1 (Exploration Mission 1); from 2021 to 2023, the EM-2 mission will be carried out to realize the manned flight of the Orion spacecraft and work in low-Earth orbit for 3 weeks; in 2024, the EM-3 mission will be achieved, which is to send four astronauts and PPE and living modules into lunar orbit to form a preliminary "Gateway"; from 2025 to 2026, the EM-4 to EM-5 missions will be achieved, and the logistics module and the airtight module will be sent to the "Gateway" for docking.

Can these plans be realized as scheduled? According to the current progress, there may be delays in the moon landing due to factors such as funding, lawsuits, and space suit processing and production, but the overall plan is moving forward. Even if it is delayed, it may be controlled within 1 year.

The significance of the Deep Space Gateway

The difference between the "Gateway" and the International Space Station is that the International Space Station is just a laboratory at an altitude of about 400km in the Earth's orbit, and the research projects are mainly related to the Earth and the nearby space; while the "Gateway" is far away from the Earth's orbit, operating in the cis-lunar orbit, which is farther away from the Earth, and the research topics are projects in deeper space.

The orbit of the "Gateway" is more than 300,000 km away from the Earth, with a perigee of 1,500 km and an apogee of 70,000 km. People call this orbit the halo orbit. It runs near the libration point of the Earth-Moon line, that is, between the Lagrange points where the gravitational forces of the Earth and the Moon are balanced.

The environment here is completely different from the location of the International Space Station. In addition to being far away from the earth, more importantly, it is out of the protection of the earth's magnetosphere. The space radiation is stronger, so the "Gateway" has higher requirements for radiation protection measures; but there is no space debris in the earth's orbit here, so there is no need to equip the International Space Station with facilities to prevent impacts from small meteorites and space debris.

The work and activities of astronauts at the Gateway symbolize that humans have stepped out of their homes and are heading into deeper space. To test whether humans can adapt to long-term activities in space away from the Earth, astronauts can stay at the Gateway for more than a year to test the Gateway's protection capabilities and humans' adaptability.

This will provide a good experimental base for human exploration of Mars and even further planets in the future. In the future, samples brought back from Mars and other distant planets will also be inspected and tested here. The processed samples will be sent back to Earth to ensure safety, which can minimize possible pollution to the Earth.

Therefore, the "Gateway" is a "dock" and springboard for future space. Even the spacecraft heading into deep space in the future will be assembled and set off here. For the human beings on Earth returning from afar, arriving here is considered home. They can take a rest and then take the "bus" home. For the Martians or aliens in the future who come to visit the Earth, this will be the customs. They will also disembark here and be inspected before they can "enter the country."

These are all later stories. When these "later stories" are implemented, the "portal" will definitely be much bigger than this.

At present, its most important task is to serve as a lunar base and a relay station for lunar landing. It will become an important transit station for humans to return to the moon around 2024 and begin to build a lunar base on it. It will also play an important role in training astronauts to go to Mars in 2033.

In recent years, deep space exploration and development plans have continued to emerge, and that "outlier" Musk often makes amazing moves. The success of the huge starship experiment has suddenly brought the human Mars immigration plan from science fiction to the present. China's space station is also traveling in space. It can be foreseen that in the next few years, mankind's entry into new space fields will be a series of wonderful shows. These wonderful shows, including whether the "Gateway" can be completed as scheduled, we will have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading, and welcome to discuss.

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