The project is part of NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Projects. Using the Orion deep-space crew capsule, crews would visit and stay at the habitat for months at a time to prepare for a Mars mission. From here the crew could also conduct experiments with robots on the lunar surface.
Best of all - the orbit will be stable for thousands of years unlike the International Space Station (ISS), which is a meteor waiting to happen. And no orbiting space junk will threaten the craft. However, the habitat would also be about 1,000 times further away than the ISS. That makes astronaut and resupply missions more complex.
All said, it seems we are moving back towards the Moon after this Administration initially wrote it off. One can only wonder if the next President will build on this plan or tear it up as well.
