posted 03-13-2017 10:45 AM               

Last month, representatives from five of the world’s space agencies met in Tsukuba, Japan, to discuss their plans for a space station orbiting the Moon. Finalization of the station’s design could come as early as next year. In the ensuing months, these space agencies will begin reviewing plans for a potential cislunar station that would serve as proof of concept for many of the challenges that manned missions to asteroids and Mars would pose. Such challenges include the development of deep space life support systems and the integration of human and robotic science and spaceflight operations.