Unfortunately, NASA undermined the NRHO Gateway-- right from the start-- by not prioritizing the development and deployment of propellant depots at NRHO. The advantage of the NRHO location is that it allows reusable single stage vehicles to reach an area of the lunar surface within 12 hours: once every two weeks if you have one reusable vehicle-- and once a week if you have two reusable vehicles. Private commercial launch companies could have been used to routinely send propellant (LOX and LH2) to the NRHO depot using the Falcon Heavy, the Delta IV heavy, and future heavy launch vehicles such as ULA's Vulcan and Blue Origin's New Glenn.
Unfortunately, NASA undermined the NRHO Gateway-- right from the start-- by not prioritizing the development and deployment of propellant depots at NRHO. The advantage of the NRHO location is that it allows reusable single stage vehicles to reach an area of the lunar surface within 12 hours: once every two weeks if you have one reusable vehicle-- and once a week if you have two reusable vehicles. Private commercial launch companies could have been used to routinely send propellant (LOX and LH2) to the NRHO depot using the Falcon Heavy, the Delta IV heavy, and future heavy launch vehicles such as ULA's Vulcan and Blue Origin's New Glenn.
ReplyDeleteMarcel