NASA considering an outpost on the moon
February 13th, 2012 - 8:19 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattNew York, Feb 13 (THAINDIAN NEWS) A 3rd of February memo from NASA has revealed that a man-tended outpost is being considered in space. The new structure is proposed to be installed at the far side of the moon.
Space.com first reported the memo. The website reported that the project is titled “Earth-Moon libration point 2” or EML-2. According to the report, libration point is the position where gravitational pulls of two objects cancel each other out. This creates a point where gravity is zero.
The article explains that NASA plans to create the outpost at that location because the opposing gravitational pulls will keep the structure firmly in place. NASA says the project will present several opportunities.
Scientists can use the outpost when exploring other lunar objects. MSNBC cited a NASA official as saying that the project will “serve as a gateway for capability-driven exploration of multiple destinations, such as near-lunar space, asteroids, the moon, the moons of Mars and ultimately Mars itself.”
A group of NASA scientists have been tasked to research into the viability of the project. They are expected to start their studies in April and expected to complete it by the end of May.
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Tags: asteroids, capability, earth moon, eml, far side of the moon, gravity, moon libration, moon space, moons of mars, msnbc, nasa, nasa official, nasa scientists, outpost, viability