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Space Stations: The Key to Space Travel

The amount of training on the International Space Station is not for no reason.  It is the key to travel to any celestial body ..

January 7, 2026

Astronauts from around the world have trained to serve on the International Space Station since it was first built in 1998, beginning with the Russian Zarya module and U.S. Unity node.  It is now year 2026, which means astronauts have trained on the ISS for over 27 years.  That’s a fair amount of training time, lasting over a quarter-century.  

The amount of training on the International Space Station is not for no reason.  It is the key to travel to any celestial body in the solar system, be it a moon or planet.

Our next destination is the Moon.  We have already successfully landed on the Moon six times. Therefore, making it to the Moon should not be a problem, and it should be approached about the same way.  The lunar lander should be similar to the one used during the 1969-72 Apollo era, a sort of spidery-like landing craft carrying two astronauts to the Moon’s surface.  It was built by the Grumman Corporation and called the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), later shortened to Lunar Module (LM).

But instead of the mothership being the Apollo Command Module, it will now be the Gateway Lunar Space Station.  It is really the same concept, but in many ways much more practical and useful.  The Lunar Space Station will have numerous docking ports for several lunar landers.  There should be plenty of backup landers, and astronauts can come-and-go at their leisure between the Space Station and Moon.  Because of their experience on the ISS, the astronauts are trained to survive on any kind of space station, a lunar space station posing no difference. They will require very little additional training, or probably none at all.

A Lunar Space Station allows us to establish our presence very near the Moon without having to actually step foot on it.  That is because there is preparation needed for the Moon before we actually occupy it.  The best course of action is to deploy AI robots from the Space Station to the Moon to begin preparation.  The AI robots will begin constructing the necessary shelters and facilities on the Moon so Man can safely take up residence.  A Moon Base will consist of a source of energy, most likely in the form of solar panels comprising a solar field, structures for electromagnetic fields (defense against cosmic rays), shelters for living, and lab facilities for working in.  The AI robots are managed and monitored from the Lunar Space Station, remotely and autonomously.  Astronauts can optionally join the AI robots on the Moon acting as foremen to provide immediate assistance.  The AI robots, who will not need spacesuits, will be fully dexterous and mobile.  (Compare to human astronauts wearing spacesuits).

This is all easily accomplished from a Lunar Space Station which will have a constant inflow of supplies and plenty of storage - similar to the ISS.  For a lunar space station, supplies not only include food, drink, and clothing, but building supplies and hardware, construction tools, and even spare robot parts.

It is evident that the first course of action is to establish a Lunar Space Station. 

It is evident that the first course of action is to establish a Lunar Space Station.  Then astronauts can take up residence in the Lunar Space Station the same as the ISS, and begin preparation for the Moon.

Establishing a Lunar Space Station is key to safely occupying the Moon.  {NASA}

It is worthy to note that throughout this article, reference is made to “occupying the Moon” and not “exploring the Moon”.  Basic exploration of the Moon has already been accomplished from the Apollo program.  There is no need to repeat this pattern.  Besides, exploration will go side-by-side with constructing the Moon Base.  Astronauts should be concerned with constructing a Moon Base as a first priority, although exploration may be inevitable during the construction progress.  After a Moon Base is established, there will be plenty of time to explore the Moon, including traveling major distances with lunar rovers and performing excavation projects.

It is tentatively planned by NASA to send astronauts on a trip once around the Moon and immediately back to Earth - but this is not really a logical course of action in view of the main objective of deploying a Lunar Space Station.  If NASA comes about and realizes this, it would not be surprising if the Moon-flyby mission gets scrubbed.  It would be more worthwhile if efforts went towards the deployment of a Lunar Space Station.

A Lunar Space Station allows us to establish our presence very near the Moon without having to actually step foot on it. That is because there is preparation needed for the Moon ..