NASA reveals its plans to build a permanent lunar base by 2032

Design of a drone in NASA's MoonFall program that will survey the South Pole
NASA
NASA has released details of robotic landers, drones and vehicles it intends to send to the Moon as part of US plans to build a lunar base.
Space company Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is one of several companies chosen to build the machines.
The US wants to get Americans back to the Moon before President Donald Trump leaves the role in 2029.
But NASA is competing with China to land humans on the lunar surface, meaning the space agency is under pressure to appear to be winning the new space race.
China is pressing ahead with its own plans to land humans on the Moon by 2030.
On Monday (25/03), the Chinese launched their Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, sending a team of astronauts to the Tiangong space station in the country.
In March, NASA announced a $20 billion program to build a permanent base powered by nuclear and solar energy at the Moon's south pole by 2032.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said on Tuesday (26/05) that the announcements mean the US will "never give up the Moon again."
A base would allow the US to conduct scientific experiments, potentially explore valuable resources and travel to Mars with more resources. ease.
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But most experts agree that NASA's schedule is unrealistic.
Despite the US's success in sending four astronauts around the Moon on its Artemis 2 mission in April, some scientists believe China is likely to be the next country to land humans on the lunar surface.
"It wouldn't surprise me at all if China got there first," Open University lunar scientist Simeon Barber told the BBC, citing NASA's setbacks in securing a craft capable of landing humans on the Moon.
NASA's Ignition Moon Base program has three phases.
Before humans travel there, the space agency wants to send robotic landers and drones to explore and map the Moon's challenging terrain.
Transport vehicles would also be flown, capable of transporting astronauts across the lunar surface and carrying scientific and communications instruments.
On Tuesday, NASA said companies including Blue Origin, Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic have been hired to build the machines.
NASA published artistic drawings of a lunar base with habitations, power systems and robotic vehicles
NASA
NASA wants Blue Origin's lunar lander, called Endurance, to be capable of precision landings as well as autonomous navigation and control.
Astrobotic's Griffin-1 lander is expected to land in Nobile Crater near the South Pole.
The machines will also provide scientific instruments for NASA, including high-resolution cameras and tools that use reflected laser light to help the craft land.
This robotic exploration is expected to last until 2029, with 25 launches and 4 tons of cargo landing on the Moon, Moon Base program executive Carlos García-Galán said Tuesday.
Next, NASA wants to build nuclear and solar power facilities on the Moon, including fission reactors.
By 2032, the space agency wants humans to be able to live on the Moon in "semi-permanent" dwellings.
Vehicles would also allow astronauts to travel long distances across the rocky surface.
The Moon's South Pole is particularly attractive because frozen water could be used for consumption or to produce oxygen.
However, NASA's plans depend on preparing a spacecraft capable of transporting humans safely to the Moon.
SpaceX, Elon Musk's company, was contracted to build a ship called the Starship Human Landing System, but faced several setbacks and delays.
"The most critical step is getting the astronauts to the surface," explains lunar scientist Simeon Barber.
"It seems to me that [NASA] feels like it's in a position where it needs to start saying it has plans.

So I think there's a lot of political will behind it," he says.
We used artificial intelligence to translate this report, originally written in English. The text was reviewed by a BBC journalist before publication. Find out more here about how the BBC is using artificial intelligence (link to English text).

Source: G1

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