This comes at a time when NASA and international agencies aim to build permanent housing and use the moon as a starting point for deeper ranges in space.
In response to the challenges associated with congestion of the lunar domain with astronauts and cargo, a research team that includes experts from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in cooperation with researchers from Texas A&M and Purdue universities, designed a study that proposes a flight manual and orbital “rules of the road” based on mathematical laws, to provide an “air traffic control” system that ensures the safety of the arrival and departure of vehicles.
Orbital traffic rules depend on what researchers call the “celestial highway” that exploits gravity, as NASA’s “Gateway” station, which will serve as the first lunar spaceport and airport for regular take-offs and landings, will move within what is known as the “near-straight halo orbit” (NRHO).
Orbit complexities
Diane Davis, associate professor of aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University and a participant in the study, pointed out that the future of lunar exploration depends as much on traffic management as it does on rocket science itself.
She pointed out that the “NRHO” orbit of the Gateway station is an elongated, semi-stable orbit that provides continuous communications with the Earth and requires only a little fuel to maintain it, but it is complicated by the gravitational attraction between the Earth and the Moon, and takes a wide shape, with its path ranging from 1,000 miles from the North Pole of the Moon to 40,000 miles behind its South Pole.
The risk increases with the presence of multiple manned and unmanned spacecraft at the same time, as the vehicles will have to “fly and wait” in space for weeks, like planes waiting for permission to land or waiting at gates, but in a high-risk, constantly moving environment that requires maintaining an “ideal balance zone” that guarantees a safe distance without excessive consumption of resources. (Erm News)
