NASA estimates $104 billion for return to moon

How the moon missions will unfold
When the docked craft arrive at the moon, all four astronauts would descend to the surface in the lander, leaving the CEV capsule under robotic control. At the end of their lunar stay, the crew members would blast off in the lander's upper segment, rendezvous with the CEV and head back homeward. The landing platform that is left behind on the moon's surface could conceivably contain supplies for future missions, Griffin said.

Like the Apollo missions, the CEV capsule would jettison its service module and return to Earth under parachutes, but would also use airbag cushions, retro rockets or other means to land on the ground at a West Coast location. In contrast, Apollo astronauts landed at sea.

“It needs to land on the west coast of some country because we want the service module to land in the ocean,” Griffin said, adding that while touchdowns at California’s Edwards Air Force Base are under review, a water landing is also possible.

At least two moon missions per year are projected once the program gets started, Griffin said.

Griffin acknowledged that the new space vehicles as currently conceived look much like the Apollo craft that flew more than 30 years ago. “That’s because the physics of atmospheric entry hasn’t changed recently,” he remarked.

A week to six months
While the initial lunar journeys under the new program would place astronauts on the lunar surface for a maximum of seven days, future expeditions could last up to six months, akin to flights now conducted by space station astronauts, Griffin said.

NASA's Apollo program landed two astronauts on the lunar surface while a third orbited the moon. Under the space agency's new plan, all four astronauts would make the lunar descent and explore the surface.

"So we get at least double the amount of time [on the moon] with seven-day missions, and four times the amount of lunar surface crew hours," Griffin said.

Also unlike the Apollo flights, which were largely confined to the moon's equatorial regions, CEV missions could reach any point on the moon that promised interesting science, Griffin said.

"This architecture allows us global lunar access," Griffin said. "Many of the most interesting places [on the moon] are situated well off the equator."

Researchers have identified locations of possible water ice near the lunar poles. The ice could provide drinking water and fuel for return trips.

Concepts to be refined
The architecture unveiled Monday will be forwarded to two competing aerospace teams vying for NASA's CEV contract — Lockheed Martin and the team-up of Northrop Grumman and Boeing — to allow them to further refine their proposals, Griffin said.

"That really helps us to get started working on the details," Keith Reiley, CEV deputy program manager for the Northrop Grumman-Boeing team, told Space.com after the announcement. "It's very similar to all the things we've been working on."

Reiley added that while his team had an idea of what NASA was looking for in the shuttle replacement, some of the functionality requirements for the CEV and its accompanying spacecraft — such as the lunar lander — are now clearer.

NASA culled the field of potential CEV contractors down to the two teams in June 2005, and will make a call for improvements from Lockheed Martin and the Northrop Grumman-Boeing team later this year, NASA officials said.

"We've got a lot of work ahead," Reiley said.

This report includes additional information from MSNBC.com.

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