the agency started describing it as an ‘integral part of the Artemis architecture,’ the lunar mission’s command center and logistics hub. But to be honest, the way things are going, Gateway feels more like the whale the astronauts hitch a ride on to finish out their improbable journey. Gateway is made of four components: the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), a European science module, and a Japanese service module. PPE and HALO together form the core of the station—an electrically powered, radioactively heated spacecraft bus equal in size to the Apollo command module[15]. Gateway’s main job is to demonstrate that NRHO is a great place to live. NASA is planning a series of four-month missions where up to four astronauts will live in the outpost, testing life support systems and generally trying to stay busy. The agency also has long-term plans to leverage Gateway for other destinations like Mars. But I have to ask: were we really short of places to live in space? The dual lessons of the International Space Station or the crew of the Polynesia voyaging canoes would seem to suggest that simple, durable living systems don’t need to be tested in the world’s most
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