10 Technologies for Moon Landings and Beyond

Fifty years ago, motivated by the Russians' progress with Sputnik, President Eisenhower signed an act to spur American space exploration with a new National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA as we've all come to call it. Slightly over a decade later, Neil Armstrong would take his first small step onto the moon's powdery surface.

In the time since the Cold War space race, NASA has experienced triumph and tragedy. Under budget cuts, reorganizations and redirections, it seemed that the United States would never put another astronaut on the moon. But in the last several years, the administration has been working on a new vision for space, the Constellation Program. In the near term it will focus on work on the space station. A few years out, there will be a return to the moon. And in the longer-term, the vision is for a human landing on Mars.

Unlike the Apollo missions, Constellation will include longer periods of time in space, more astronauts stepping on the moon's surface, new lunar rovers and a range of new scientific tests. Many of the technologies involved are far beyond what any Apollo mission researcher might have imagined. And yet, "The significance of this program is a return to the art of exploration," says John Connolly, the head of vehicle engineering for Altair, the Constellation Program's lunar module. Here are ten technologies from NASA destined to launch another giant leap for humankind.

1. Composite designs
The Apollo craft was made out of aluminum, which worked well at the time. Since then, carbon composites have been developed that are lighter and stronger. For space travel, lighter is better, Connolly says, and these composites take their cues from advancements in the airline industry, being manufactured into complex shapes and pieces. In the astronautics world, mass equals money.

2. Nontoxic propulsion
For previous lunar landings, modules used hypergolic propulsion that combined toxic chemicals. That meant astronauts landed in a cloud of equally toxic effluent that could affect any samples collected from space. While scientists were careful to collect away from the landing spot, new propulsion systems in development at NASA are nontoxic. These systems utilize propellants such as liquid hydrogen and oxygen to produce water vapor as a byproduct. Now astronauts will be able to land in a cloud of water, Connolly says.

3. Precision landing
Avoiding hazards is key for the Constellation Program. Previous landers were all controlled by hand. The goal now is give landers enough sophisticated sensors and smarts to land themselves at a designated site. Constellation's Altair lander will be capable of bringing four astronauts for an automated stop. "If you could toss a coin to the surface of the moon, I'll be able to put a footpad down on it," Connolly says.

4. Alternative energy storage
Green building isn't just for Earth any more. While the Phoenix Mars mission already utilized solar panels, the Orion crew exploration vehicle promises to be the first manned solar-paneled craft in space. Leaving behind the current setup of batteries and fuel cells, Orion will have circular solar panels modeled after the panels currently at work on the Phoenix Mars Lander. Beyond its renewable nature, another advantage to solar power in space: it doesn't weigh as much as other fuels.

5. Space harvesting
Connolly doesn't call it "space harvesting" -- NASA's name for the approach is "in situ resource utilization" or ISRU -- but the idea is to tap space's resources, reducing the need to lug stuff along for the journey. "If you can find it, you don't have to bring it with you," he says. This goes well beyond moon rock souvenirs. Food, fuel, oxygen, and water are heavy altogether. Imagine getting a sample of lunar ice, warming it, and then cleaning it. An astronaut could be drinking water that isn't from Earth.