NASA is sending astronauts into deep space

National Aeronautics and Space Administration recently issued a memorandum, which refers to the forthcoming implementation of an integrated project of manned flights to the so- called second Lagrange point. It is located at a distance of 60,000 kilometers from the invisible to us ' shadow ' side of the moon.
The points are called Lagrange points lying in the plane of the orbits of two massive bodies (in this case, the Earth and Moon ), which may be a third object with negligible mass, while it does not apply any other forces except the gravitational effects from these two bodies .
This interest in the space ' item ' is easily explained: when the agency actually rejected the Martian program, it was in a state of systemic crisis. The original initiative of President Barack Obama says that from now on trips to low Earth orbit will be farmed out to private companies, and NASA will focus on the preparation of large-scale projects - such as the construction of heavy hydrogen-oxygen rocket Space Launch System for flights to Mars, and .

Previously, NASA officials have made ​​statements about the second Lagrange point (L2) is the ' key opportunity ' for the United States in space exploration in the near future.
But in fact it turned out that running an ambitious ' future projects ' impractical yet. If the near-Earth flight will be engaged in private ' cabs ', it turns out that NASA does, and will have nothing to do. And the development of the second Lagrangian point could be the breakthrough that will lead management of the crisis.

To break out of lunar orbit, you need to get closer to the escape velocity, and this would require the booster and a manned apparatus suitable for interplanetary expeditions. This function can perform the same Space Launch System and Orion. They will help create a ' base ' on the other side of the moon's orbit, which will serve as a starting point for a variety of missions, including the study of near-moon space, asteroids, and Mars and its moons.
For this project will implement a number of steps. First, we plan to bring it to the current NASA ISS partners that will help solve the budget problems. Second, as mentioned above, will be held by private firms for the LEO Project. Third, NASA is going as far as possible to apply the principle of multiple and multi-use space technology.

In addition, priority will be given to developments that will simultaneously reduce the cost of launches and improve their security, as well as the effectiveness of mission.

Creation of special importance to the space base in the second Lagrange point would be to study the Moon. For example, it can be highly effective to control the moonwalker, exploring the back of the satellite, which is still a poorly understood and holds many mysteries.

Thus, in the Basin South Pole - Aitken, the deepest part of which lies on the ' shadow ' side of the moon in 2009 was found pure water ice. The total volume of water ice on the moon is 600 million tonnes. Experts suggest that because of the constant presence in the shadow of the temperature on the ' one ' side of the satellite for a long time did not rise above 100 degrees Kelvin, so that in the early days of its existence there was a ' preservation ' of large quantities of substances. If they can find, they can tell a lot about the history of the Moon.
Incidental to these expeditions is to evaluate the health effects of cosmic radiation, since the astronauts have to stay outside the Van Allen belts - the so-called Earth's radiation belt, which are collected and retained by penetrating into the magnetosphere, high-energy charged particles (mostly protons and electrons ).
A preliminary draft will be made to the March 30, 2012. By this point will be determined and the extent of participation of foreign partners.