/sci/ - Science & Math

>>8811344
>What kind of projects will the cis-lunar station support?
The station is meant to support multiple deep space projects, including a Moon base, Mars missions, and even Obama's asteroid capture. NASA would also like to do a Venus flyby on their first Mars mission. Also included is support for construction of a deep space transport. The valuable thing about this station is that it can support all of these projects at the same time. No longer is it Mars versus the Moon versus asteroid capture, instead we can do all of those things simultaneously. It will also make each of those missions more affordable and easier than if they were done by themselves.

>What kind of research will be done on the cis-lunar station?
Alot of the research will be on studying the effects of the long term effects of deep space on humans and man-rated spacecraft, including surface structures for bases on the Moon and Mars. The station is pretty small though, so not much science can be done on it compared to the ISS. That said, the cis-lunar station is meant to be more expandable than the ISS, so it may be possible that the station will increase in size over time, thus increasing the possibility of more diverse research.

>Who all is involved in cis-lunar station?
ISS partners Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the USA have been jointly and indepently working on the idea since 2009. Because the station and Orion/SLS projects will be expensive, NASA is seeking partnerships to ease the financial burden. Not only does this include the aformentioned countries, but it also includes commercial space companies. Through the NextSTEP program, NASA has selected six companies and teams to work on developing NASA's portion of the station. These companies are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Bigelow, Sierra Nevada Corp, Orbital ATK, and Nanoracks/Loral/ULA. The winning concept(s) will be selected later this year and construction will begin in 2018 or 2019.

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