The last several years have been quite exciting for NASA, as their space faring efforts have become more and more promising. With 2020 just around the corner, NASA is planning on taking their expeditions to the next level: civilian trips.
It’s been over half a century since humans first touched down on the moon, and according to NASA, humans will set foot on the moon again sometime in the late 2020s. The International Space Station will play an integral role in humanity’s space faring efforts. It shows that human-inhabited space outposts are more than possible, and NASA has plans for a similar outpost called the Deep Space Gateway.
As you may have guessed from the name, the Deep Space Gateway will serve as a gateway to possibly colonizing the moon, as well as a base of operations for expeditions to other planets such as Mars. Unlike the International Space Station which orbits the Earth, the Deep Space Gateway will orbit the moon. The Deep Space Gateway has since been renamed the Lunar Orbiting Platform-Gateway, but the primary function will remain the same. If all goes well with NASA’s future plans, they intend on taking humans to Mars in the early 2030s.
Lightspeed functionality and space cruisers might be a very long way off, but it seems like NASA is putting their efforts into overdrive. Who knows, it might be possible for civilians to lead lives on the moon or planets outside of Earth within this lifetime.
