NASA Solicits Industry for Gateway Project - commercial and international effort

On 21 June 2018,NASA issued a draft solicitation by way of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for proposals for the first element of the Gateway project.The Gateway is basically a small space station,most recently referred to as the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.Built with commercial and international partners,it will support robotic and human exploration of the Moon and beyond,including Mars,in accordance with Space Policy Directive 1.*
The draft solicitation seeks proposals for the first element of the Gateway,which is to be a high power,solar electric propulsion (SEP) spacecraft to maintain the Gateway's position in space and move it between lunar orbits as needed,NASA said.It will also power the Gateway's controls and communications.Industry's response to the draft will facilitate the issuance of a final solicitation later this summer.The current target date for the launch of this power and propulsion element by a commercial rocket is 2022.
In addition to the draft,an Industry Day has been scheduled for 10 July 2018 at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland,Ohio.
The SEP spacecraft is to enable the high rate,reliable communications between Earth and deep space that are critical for deep space spacewalks and human exploration of celestial bodies such as the Moon and Mars.*
Since 2016,companies have been developing prospective habitation elements for deep space exploration in the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) programme.Five of the firms are developing complete Gateway concepts.*
Jason Crusan is director for Advanced Exploration Systems at NASA headquarters in Washington.

Reflection:LeBron's Respectable Decision

ESPN,a holding of Disney,was criticized for devoting an hour special to LeBron James' decision on where to play basketball for the next several years.Both LeBron's decision and ESPN's coverage,in the event,turned out to have a lot of integrity.It was refreshing to see that in the high-priced world of professional sports.The ESPN journalists stayed true to their own profession.They didn't shy away from LeBron.They were in his face with the tough questions,questions that knowledgeable fans were surely asking in their own minds.
As for LeBron James,he handled the whole process as well as any human being could be expected to.Everything he said made sense.By all appearances,he is a well-grounded gentleman,as well as a sports star.To keep his sanity through the media and business madness is the true mark of his character.Congratulations to him for that achievement.We need all the examples of sound behavior we can find in a culture racked by mental illness and extremes of every sort.And ESPN is also praiseworthy for keeping their heads above the dangerous water.
No child who watched the ESPN special went to bed the worse for it,and should have benefited from the reasoned judgement showed by all concerned.That is high praise indeed for contemporary television.
In Cleveland,the response was sharp,with vitriol being directed at LeBron for his mature,rational approach.Cleveland produced and retained a star player for seven years,but ultimately failed to make a championship team possible,as so many other cities have failed;but Cleveland will start over again on the project,not waste time castigating LeBron James for exercising his rights as an athlete and a person.
Disney(DIS)