NASA needs to get real
The space agency should rethink LOP-G project
Few concepts remain as intriguing and exciting as space exploration. From the Apollo 11 mission to the moon in 1969 to the Curiosity rover reaching Mars in 2012, the United States’ achievements when reaching toward the cosmos are a point of national pride.
Many have hoped the next triumph could come in the form of a manned mission to Mars or the construction of a lunar base. But these projects have taken a backseat to NASA’s proposed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G).
According to NASA officials, the outpost would orbit the moon and serve as a staging area for missions deeper into space. The idea has been endorsed by the Trump administration. During a speech last month at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Vice President Mike Pence said the administration hopes to have an American crew aboard the LOP-G by 2024.
But critics have emerged with pointed criticisms of the project. Many have noted that the proposal lacks a clearly defined scientific goal.
Terry Virts, a former NASA astronaut and commander of the International Space Station, penned an op-ed for Ars Technica last September that argued the project “would shackle human exploration, not enable it.”
Similarly, Robert Zubrin, an aerospace engineer who has championed the idea of sending humans to explore Mars, wrote in National Review earlier this year that the gateway project is most notable “for requiring a large budget to create an object with no utility whatsoever.”
Reports about the development of the LOP-G suggest that NASA officials came up with a splashy idea — a lunar-orbiting space station certainly tickles the imagination — and engineers within the agency have since been tasked with finding a purpose for the project.
The agency has not yet adequately addressed the concerns of critics such as Mr. Virts or Mr. Zubrin, and it should if it wishes to use taxpayer money to construct the LOP-G.
NASA still does exciting and helpful work — the launch of the Parker Solar Probe in August would be a good example. But the questions surrounding the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway are significant enough that NASA should revisit the usefulness of the project.