NASA asks Northrop Grumman to stop working on lunar HALO module
NASA asks Northrop Grumman to stop working on lunar HALO module
NASA 要求诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司停止研发月球 HALO 模块
Three months ago, during a flashy event at its Washington, DC, headquarters, NASA announced that it was shifting the focus of its lunar plans from an orbital space station to a Moon base on the surface. As part of this, officials said work would be paused on the Lunar Gateway planned to orbit the Moon.
三个月前，NASA 在其华盛顿特区总部举行了一场盛大的发布会，宣布将其月球计划的重心从轨道空间站转向月球表面基地。作为该计划的一部分，官方表示将暂停原定于绕月运行的“月球门户”（Lunar Gateway）的建设工作。
Of the two elements that were furthest along, NASA also revealed that one of them—the Power and Propulsion Element—would be repurposed to serve as a core module for a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration in deep space. Less was said about the fate of the other major component, the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO). This is the large pressurized module, 6.1 meters long, in which visiting astronauts would spend the majority of their time when visiting the Lunar Gateway.
在进展最快的两个组件中，NASA 还透露其中之一——动力与推进组件（PPE）——将被重新利用，作为深空核电推进演示的核心模块。而关于另一个主要组件“居住与后勤前哨站”（HALO）的命运，官方则鲜有提及。HALO 是一个 6.1 米长的加压大型模块，宇航员在访问“月球门户”时，大部分时间都将在其中度过。
NASA has awarded contracts worth $1.1 billion to Northrop Grumman to design, build, and integrate the habitation module with the Power and Propulsion Element. After the NASA announcements in March, Northrop Grumman began lobbying NASA and others to include the HALO module as part of NASA’s Moon Base plans. However, Ars has learned this is now unlikely to happen. Last week, a key contractor for the HALO module, Paragon Space Development Corp., was told to stop working on the space vehicle, two sources told Ars. In 2022, Paragon received a contract worth more than $100 million to develop the life-support system for HALO.
NASA 此前已授予诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司价值 11 亿美元的合同，用于设计、制造该居住模块并将其与动力与推进组件进行集成。在 NASA 三月份发布公告后，诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司开始游说 NASA 及其他相关方，希望将 HALO 模块纳入 NASA 的月球基地计划。然而，据 Ars 获悉，这种情况现在不太可能发生。两名消息人士告诉 Ars，上周，HALO 模块的关键承包商 Paragon 空间开发公司已被告知停止该航天器的相关工作。2022 年，Paragon 曾获得一份价值超过 1 亿美元的合同，用于开发 HALO 的生命支持系统。
Publicly, no one is confirming the stop-work order or that this is the end of the line for HALO. “HALO can be repurposed for a variety of lunar missions and it’s the most mature technology to support a deep space or lunar habitat,” a Northrop Grumman spokesperson told Ars. “Northrop Grumman and our supplier partners will continue to work with NASA as they explore how to best utilize these resources.”
在公开场合，目前尚无人证实这一停工令，也无人确认这是否意味着 HALO 项目的终结。诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司的一位发言人告诉 Ars：“HALO 可以被重新利用于各种月球任务，它是支持深空或月球栖息地最成熟的技术。诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司及其供应商合作伙伴将继续与 NASA 合作，共同探索如何最好地利用这些资源。”
However, the spokesperson added that most Northrop employees affected by any changes to HALO could be reassigned to other positions. “We are reassigning most affected employees across existing opportunities and programs within our Space portfolio,” the spokesperson added.
不过，该发言人补充说，大多数受 HALO 项目变动影响的诺斯罗普员工可以被重新分配到其他岗位。“我们正在将大多数受影响的员工重新分配到我们空间业务组合中的现有机会和项目中，”该发言人补充道。
Two sources also indicated that the decision to stop development of the HALO module has not caused a rift between NASA and one of its major contractors. “NASA has come to good terms with Northrop on how they’re going to contribute to the Moon base,” a space agency source said.
两名消息人士还指出，停止开发 HALO 模块的决定并没有导致 NASA 与其主要承包商之一产生裂痕。一位航天局消息人士表示：“NASA 已与诺斯罗普就他们将如何为月球基地做出贡献达成了良好的共识。”
It is unclear why work on HALO has stopped now. Possibly, NASA decided it did not need the large module for the lunar surface. Fully outfitted, the HALO module has a mass of 8 or 9 metric tons. This is a large mass to get to the lunar surface, and may be inconsistent with NASA’s walk-before-you-can-run approach to developing lunar surface hardware. It’s also possible that the corrosion issue observed with HALO will take more time and cost too much to remediate. Regardless, the HALO work stoppage is another nail in the coffin of the Lunar Gateway, as if the project were not dead enough already.
目前尚不清楚为何现在停止了 HALO 的工作。可能是 NASA 认为月球表面并不需要这个大型模块。HALO 模块在完全装备后的质量约为 8 到 9 公吨。将如此巨大的质量运送到月球表面难度很大，这可能与 NASA 在开发月球表面硬件时采取的“循序渐进”方针不符。此外，HALO 此前被发现的腐蚀问题可能需要耗费更多时间和成本来修复。无论如何，HALO 的停工无疑是“月球门户”项目棺材上的又一颗钉子，仿佛该项目还不够“死”透了一样。