The Moon at our fingertips

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” — so said Neil Armstrong, commander of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, when he first set foot on the lunar surface. His words are up there with the most famous in human history.

And those who watched the landing live on their black-and-white TVs can all tell exactly where they were at that moment.

So near, yet so far away — who’d have thought the Moon would be an object of such desire? America was the first to plant its star-spangled banner on the lunar surface. That was July 20, 1969. 51 years later, the Moon is back on everyone’s agenda. The return of crewed missions to Earth’s only natural satellite has become a key objective. Several space powers are planning to go back between 2024 and 2030, primarily the United States, Europe, Russia and China.

Why is the Moon back in such favor, when the last human mission there was Apollo 17 in 1972? A series of scientific discoveries in the intervening years has made this celestial body even more rare and precious than imagined. First, previous theories were confirmed in 2008 — there’s water on the Moon. Which means that there’s also oxygen and hydrogen, to be extracted from lunar ice for instance to make rocket fuel. Other resources, like helium-3, an energy producing isotope, could power future spacecraft for human missions to Mars and into deep space.

In other words, the Moon is now seen as a staging post for much more ambitious missions to the Red Planet and beyond. What was once the stuff of science fiction is now fast becoming a reality. To give you an idea of the scales involved — and hence the importance of a lunar platform — when the Trace Gas Orbiter launched in 2016 as part of the first ExoMars mission to Mars, it had to make a seven-month journey across the Solar System, covering a staggering 500 million kilometers, before it could start work.

A human presence on the Moon would also give us a unique vantage point for observing Earth’s surface, atmosphere and biosphere. Such an ability to scrutinize Earth from the Moon could prove indispensable for monitoring the terrestrial environment and anticipating the risks and fallouts of climate change, for example. Looking even further ahead, the Moon could effectively become a natural Earth observation satellite.

The Moon is clearly of broad strategic interest. There’s talk of a Moon Village, a cislunar space station and robotic rendezvous technologies for assembling the parts of a station directly in orbit. Even in his wildest dreams, Jules Verne — who gave us such remarkable futuristic novels as From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon — didn’t go that far.

 Ahead in space and orbital infrastructure

Did you know that Thales Alenia Space built almost 40% of the International Space Station? Our company has provided fully half of the pressurized volume of the International Space Station, including Nodes 2 and 3, the Permanent Multipurpose Module, the Multipurpose Logistics Modules, the Cupola and the Columbus lab structure, along with cargo modules for the ATV resupply vessels and the structure for the Bishop commercial airlock from NanoRacks.

We also build all pressurized cargo modules for Cygnus resupply vessels on behalf of Northrop Grumman. Twice yearly, they deliver food, water, parts, fuel and science experiments for astronauts on the ISS.

Our teams are now capitalizing on their long experience with globally acclaimed exploration programs to address new Moon-related markets.

I’m so proud to write that from Venus, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, the Sun to asteroids, comets and tomorrow back to the Moon — Thales Alenia Space has always been a pivotal partner in stunning international missions across the Solar System.

We’re a crucially important player in the European Service Module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which will explore deep space. We’re also prime contractor for ExoMars, a joint exploration program between the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. From 2023, it will search for traces of past life on Mars. The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has been in orbit around the Red Planet since late 2016 and pursuing its science mission since 2018. And we’re eagerly awaiting the landing of ESA’s ExoMars Rover, to begin drilling to a depth of two meters in search of traces of past or present life.

Thales Alenia Space will also contribute to the Earth Return Orbiter, the key element of the Mars Sample Return mission, which will be carried out through an international cooperation led by NASA. This one-of-a-kind Martian exploration mission aims to bring Red planet samples back to Earth: a world first!

Back in 2005, the Huygens probe touched down on Saturn’s moon Titan. This exceptional feat was, and remains to this day, a world premiere. Thanks to these kinds of missions, our know-how is recognized at a global scale — including stateside. Indeed, it’s no accident our company was selected recently to participate in various exploration programs as part of the “Back to the Moon” challenge.

 Objective: Moon

We continue to push back the frontiers of space exploration. Our company was chosen by ESA to develop two key modules for the upcoming Lunar Gateway: I-HAB and the ESPRIT communications and refueling module.

And yet, Northrop Grumman has recently selected us to develop the pressurized module for HALO (Habitation And Logistic Outpost) which will be one of the first parts to form the lunar space station, Gateway, to be launched in 2023. Thanks to these recent good news, I am proud that Thales Alenia Space has become a top industrial partner onboard Lunar Gateway!

NASA’s Artemis program

Artemis is a fittingly beautiful name for such a spectacular exploration program. In Greek mythology, Artemis is none other than Apollo’s sister — a nod to the mythical missions that have made NASA’s reputation around the globe.

Artemis is a NASA crewed spaceflight program that aims to return humans to the Moon in 2024. This should lead to sustainable exploration of the lunar surface, supported by regular shuttles, with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanent human lunar settlement. Artemis is also a chance to test and perfect the equipment and procedures needed for crewed exploration missions to Mars and beyond.

The Human Landing System is part of NASA’s Artemis program and a key factor in its Moon return strategy. Qualified to transport people, the HLS will enable astronauts to travel to the lunar surface, live and operate on the ground for up to a week, then return to the Moon’s orbit.

Thales Alenia Space is part of the consortium led by American company Dynetics, selected by NASA to conduct the initial design and development phase of the pressurized cabin of the HLS. As the only European partner in the Dynetics consortium, we’re in charge of designing the crew module, drawing on our extensive experience with the International Space Station. The crew module will play a decisive role, since it will house and protect astronauts from the hazards of spaceflight, such as radiation and micrometeorites.

Moreover, while American company CommStar Space Communications is counting on us to deploy a hybrid Earth-Moon communications relay satellite by 2023, we’ll also be supplying Earth-Moon telecom technologies for NASA’s VIPER rover, which will search for water on the surface. We’ve also been chosen by Axiom Space to provide two key pressurized elements, Node1 and Habitat, which will be the first components in a future commercial space station. By the way, French architect and designer Philippe Starck was asked by Axiom Space to create interiors of the habitation module for the Axiom Space Station.

The space odyssey to the moon has never been so close.

Artistic views: ? Axiom Space - ? Dynetics - ?ESA - ?NASA - ?Thales Alenia Space/Briot - Video ?Thales Alenia Space/master Image Programmes