And what would this new station do? Presumably it will serve as a way-station for trips to the moon and Mars. Now that sounds a little more intriguing than simply circling the Earth, which can be done by any satellite. Mark K. Matthews in the Orlando Sentinel writes:
Potential missions include the study of nearby asteroids or dispatching robotic trips to the moon that would gather moon rocks and bring them back to astronauts at the outpost. The outpost also would lay the groundwork for more-ambitious trips to Mars' moons and even Mars itself, about 140 million miles away on average...
It gives purpose to the Orion space capsule and the Space Launch System rocket, which are being developed at a cost of about $3 billion annually. It involves NASA's international partners, as blueprints for the outpost suggest using a Russian-built module and components from Italy. And the outpost would represent a baby step toward NASA's ultimate goal: human footprints on Mars.
This is encouraging, if funding can be located. What is interesting is that I am seeing very little discussion outside of the Orlando story. I hope to learn more about this story and this possibility.
Note: The photo used above is from NASA:
The International Space Station can be seen as a small object in upper left of this image of the moon in the early evening Jan. 4 in the skies over the Houston area flying at an altitude of 390.8 kilometers (242.8 miles). The space station can occasionally be seen in the night sky with the naked eye and a pair of field binoculars.
