NASA Update on Moon Base Mission

NASA is updating the general public concerning the state of its multi-year moon base project. Jared Isaacman, NASA’s chief says, “American returns to the moon again and this time to stay.”

The space agency plans to build the lunar base on the south pole of the moon. The construction of the space research center that will be able to sustain human life will take a decade to complete.

The testing of Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark I Endurance Lander will begin at the end of 2026.

The Moon Base project is replacing the Gateway program, which was to be an orbital station not unlike the International Space Station. It would serve as a node between the moon and Earth. At the beginning of this year, NASA simplified the strategy and decided to concentrate on the lunar surface, reduce operating costs, and accelerate the Artemis schedule.

Moon Base Missions

The plan for the lunar base has three phases. The first phase will run from 2026 to 2029 and will be focused on robotic exploration and experimentation missions. NASA and its private partners will test the technologies necessary for future manned missions.

Phase one will consist of 25 missions and 21 surface landings. Over the next three years, NASA plans to send rovers, including manned models for mobility, surface reactors, drones, payloads to prepare the ground, and new-generation satellites.

One of the first key missions will be conducted this fall: the testing of the Blue Moon Mark I Endurance module. The space agency will be evaluating conditions for a controlled descent and validate navigation and positioning technology. The vehicle will not carry astronauts. In 2028, if the mission is successful, Blue Origin will man the Blue Moon Mark 2.

This year will also see the start of the Moon Base II and III missions. One of this missions will send rovers and payloads to determine complex rover operations. The other will deliver scientific instruments to study the behaviors of materials and systems in lunar conditions.

Phase 2 will kick-off in 2029 marking the beginning of semipermanent infrastructure assembly and first occupancy operations. NASA will install advanced energy systems that will include initial habitat elements, surface reactors, and robust communication networks. Sixty tons of cargo will be delivered over 24 missions.

During Phase 3, NASA will strengthen and expand the infrastructure to create durable centers with constant personnel turnover. The agency has a vision of habitable modules, logistics networks for cargo and crew transportation, reliable power systems, and 38 tons of cargo for maintenance and expansion.

Leading the Next Generation

“Every mission, crewed and uncrewed, will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable. We will go for the science, for all we stand to gain from an economic and technological perspective, for the innovations that will makes life better here on Earth, and to prepare for where we will inevitably go next,” says Isaacman in a statement released by NASA.

Isaacman says the moon base will look like a city and be “hundreds of square miles” and different parts of the base need to be located on a variety of terrain types. There will be multiple lunar outposts.

NASA will use the moon base to get to Mars. Isaacman says, “Really, it is to have an environment where we can work with the water, ice and master the skills for where we go next, which is Mars.” He says he hopes this project will inspire “the next generation to plant the stars and stripes on Mars someday.”

Sources:

NASA: NASA to Provide Update on Moon Base Strategy, Missions
Sky News: NASA moon mission latest: Space agency unveils massive plan to settle on moon – with eyes on Mars next
Wired: NASA Details Its Plan to Build a Lunar Base at the Moon’s South Pole

Featured Image Courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License