NASA Successfully Boots Up Gateway's Power System for the First Time
A major milestone has been achieved in the development of NASA's Power and Propulsion Element, a crucial component of the agency's lunar Gateway mission. The solar electric propulsion spacecraft recently powered on for the first time, marking an important step towards providing power to the Gateway.
The element, designed by NASA's Glenn Research Center with industry partner Lanteris Space Systems, is capable of generating 60 kilowatts of power - enough to fuel high-rate communications, attitude control, and orbit maintenance. This breakthrough demonstrates that the Power and Propulsion Element can sustainably support the Gateway's operations in lunar orbit.
The element's electrical system is shielded within protective exterior panels at Lanteris Space Systems' facility in California, while three 12-kilowatt thrusters manufactured by L3Harris and four 6-kilowatt Busek-built thrusters are also being prepared for installation. Meanwhile, the roll-out solar arrays for Gateway have completed testing at Redwire's Goleta facility.
The successful power-up of the Power and Propulsion Element is a significant achievement in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface by 2025. The mission will pave the way for sustainable human presence on the Moon and lay the groundwork for further exploration of the solar system.
A major milestone has been achieved in the development of NASA's Power and Propulsion Element, a crucial component of the agency's lunar Gateway mission. The solar electric propulsion spacecraft recently powered on for the first time, marking an important step towards providing power to the Gateway.
The element, designed by NASA's Glenn Research Center with industry partner Lanteris Space Systems, is capable of generating 60 kilowatts of power - enough to fuel high-rate communications, attitude control, and orbit maintenance. This breakthrough demonstrates that the Power and Propulsion Element can sustainably support the Gateway's operations in lunar orbit.
The element's electrical system is shielded within protective exterior panels at Lanteris Space Systems' facility in California, while three 12-kilowatt thrusters manufactured by L3Harris and four 6-kilowatt Busek-built thrusters are also being prepared for installation. Meanwhile, the roll-out solar arrays for Gateway have completed testing at Redwire's Goleta facility.
The successful power-up of the Power and Propulsion Element is a significant achievement in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface by 2025. The mission will pave the way for sustainable human presence on the Moon and lay the groundwork for further exploration of the solar system.
! imagine having a spacecraft that can just chill in orbit and provide power to other spaceships... it's like a giant battery pack for space travel 
. nasa's artemis program is gonna be so cool when humans finally set foot on the moon again 
. i wonder what kind of crazy tech they'll develop next? maybe a way to harness solar energy in space and send it back to earth as a superpower source 
️... or better yet, a way to make space travel even more sustainable so we can explore more of our solar system 
... the artemis program is going to be so cool when it's all said and done 
. what if they could just expand this tech to other planets or space stations? the possibilities are endless! 
" 
this is like, the biggest milestone in their lunar mission and i am SO here for it!!! its like we r one step closer to havin humans on the moon again!!! 
. Maybe the Artemis program will inspire some innovative solutions?
I'm living for it! It's going to be awesome to see humans set foot on the Moon again and start exploring the solar system 
. 60 kilowatts of power is HUGE! We're talking like, super- fast internet and satellite control 
. The fact that this Power and Propulsion Element can sustainably support Gateway's ops in lunar orbit is just mind-blowing 
, idk if thats really groundbreaking news. i mean we've been hearing about this gateway thingy for ages now and still no actual humans on the moon 
guess thats just my opinion tho 
this is so cool! i mean, can you even imagine being one of the people working on this project? it's like something out of a sci-fi movie 
?!
. Don't get me wrong, it's cool and all that, but what if something goes wrong? The power system for Gateway just passed its first test, but there are still so many other things that could go haywire 
. And let's not forget about the whole sustainability thing - we're talking about humans living on the moon, which is basically a rock with no air and extreme temperatures 
. It's gonna be a wild ride if we can even make it to 2025 without some major setback 
. cant wait to see more updates on this mission
. And the fact that they can sustainably support the Gateway's operations in lunar orbit is just incredible. I'm hyped to think about all the good this could do for science and exploration 
And now they're talking about powering some big space station up there for 2025? That's just a bunch of money being thrown around in my opinion 
. What's the point of going all the way to the Moon when we can't even solve our own problems here on Earth? 