Gateway to the Moon

UK to help build the ‘habitation module’ for Nasa’s lunar space station

it is the space station that’s set to make history by helping to put the first woman on the Moon by 2024.

And Britain is to play a significant part in building the lunar Gateway, it emerged yesterday.

A three- day trip away from earth, the lunar space station will be part of the new Artemis programme, an international collaboration led by nasa.

it will be a temporary home for astronauts arriving from earth who will then use it as a base to journey on to the Moon – the first time humans have done so since 1972.

Yesterday, it was revealed that the refuelling station within the ‘service module’ of the space station will be British-built.

Firms are also submitting tenders to the UK space Agency for the ‘ habitation module’, where two to three astronauts will sleep, relax and potentially live for months at a time before setting off for the Moon.

the space station is as large as two single-decker buses, making it around a third of the size of the international space station which orbits the earth. But, while it takes only four hours to reach the iss, it will be a six-day round trip to the lunar Gateway, orbiting the Moon 240,000 miles away.

nasa’s Artemis programme aims to use it as a launching pad to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon.

in Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo – whose name was given to the original nasa mission to the Moon in the 1960s. the UK has already committed £16million to the first phase of British projects to supply the lunar Gateway, and the UK space Agency has signed an agreement on the principles of space exploration with nasa and other partners including Japan and Canada.

science minister Amanda solloway said: ‘the prospect of the first woman landing on the Moon in the coming years will be a source of inspiration for thousands who may be considering a career in space or science.

‘ today’s historic agreement underlines our commitment to strengthening the UK’s role in the global space sector.’

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