Tentative Space Station Complement at Block I 



CORE 



Astrometric Telescope Facility 

 Life Sciences Research Facility 

 Microgravity and Materials-Processing Facility 

 Cosmic Dust Collector 



FREE FLYERS 

 HST 

 GRO 

 AXAF 



CO-ORBITING PLATFORMS (NUMBER OF PAYLOADS UNDER REVIEW) 

 SIRTF 



POLAR PLATFORM(S) 



2.3 Lunar Base 



A lunar base is a natural extension of NASA's Space Station program, tech- 

 nically and programatically, and could be in its initial stages of implacement in 

 the first decade of the 21st century. Technically, the lunar base can utilize or 

 build directly upon many of the systems developed for Space Station. Pro- 

 gramatically, the construction of a lunar base fits logically after the development 

 of Space Station and OTV technology. 



The rationale for developing a lunar base is to advance scientific understand- 

 ing, to learn to utilize lunar material and the lunar environment beneficially in 

 the development of the space infrastructure, and to develop the capability for 

 extended, even permanent, habitation in space. Investigations into the origin and 

 history of the Moon can uniquely be carried out at a lunar base and these may 

 help us to better understand the early history of the Earth and the prevailing 

 conditions that lead to the origin of life. Long-baseline radio interferometers 

 and very large optical arrays can improve upon currently planned orbital obser- 

 vatories in both sensitivity and spatial resolution. These are crucial to the study 

 of the origin and evolution of the biogenic elements and compounds; particu- 

 larly, attempts to image and spectroscopically examine the atmosphere of a 

 distant planet, or to study the formation of a nearby planetary system and 

 understand the processes by which complex interstellar organic compounds 

 might survive their inclusion into the protoplanetary nebula. New investigations 

 into the properties of matter may be possible utilizing the high vacuum and 

 extremes of temperature that may be easily maintained on the Moon for very 

 long times. 



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