Manned flyby of Moon considered

The possibility of using the space station as a launching point to fly a manned mission around the Moon is to be studied by the station partners.

I saw this on the BBC news website and thought I'd share this, looks like there is talk about using the ISS to launch a craft that goes around the moon, at the moment it looks like it's just an idea and just talk but it's an interesting prospect, with the future moon landings now not taking place this could be good for future missions into deep space…. if it actually happens that is.

Manned flyby of Moon considered

reply to post by Majestic RNA


I think we have gotten to the point where it would be easier to assemble the craft in orbit and then launch the mission, than to launch the completed craft directly from the Earth.

The cost and risk of sending the preassembled craft into orbit would with require a small environmental module or an enormous booster to put it into orbit. By using the ISS as a sort of "space dock" to stage the assembly of the craft using multiple launches over a period of time to construct a rather large craft with a reduced cost.

reply to post by BomSquad



Hi BomSquad, yeah I agree it would seem to be the way to go regarding the assembling of future space craft, but as I said in the OP it's all just talk at this moment in time, there has been talk about using the Moon as a launch platform in the past but I can't see that happening in my lifetime, pity really, I'd love to see the moon have a human base on it.

Good old money it seems is always the issue with space exploration, maybe if this goes ahead and it's cost effective the future of humans exploring deep space may become a reality.. I guess it's a waiting game.

This is from 2006, a fair bit has changed since this artical.


US plans permanent base on Moon

reply to post by Majestic RNA

I think the difference in efficiency between building the assembled craft on Earth as opposed to building it in orbit all depends on the size of the craft.

For example, a small craft that is only going to the Moon and only needs to support 2 or 3 crew members for only a week or so would probably be best assemble on Earth and launched directly to the Moon. However, larger craft with larger crews that are meant to support those crews for several weeks or even months (such as an extended Moon mission or a Mars mission) would be built in space.

The tentative plans NASA has for a manned mission to Mars (as part of the nearly-defunct Constellation Program) includes assembling the Mars "Cruise" spacecraft from multiple pieces that were sent into orbit using multiple launches of the Ares V heavy-lift cargo vehicle.