NASA lays out moon base plans with landers, buggies and drones at the top of the list
Summary
NASA is planning to build a large moon base and has given contracts to four U.S. companies to provide landers, rovers, and drones. The goal is to start sending these machines to the moon before astronauts arrive in 2028, with the base growing over the next decade to support longer stays.Key Facts
- NASA awarded contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to four U.S. companies for moon landers, rovers, and drones.
- Blue Origin will supply landers to deliver moon buggies, which are built by Astrolab and Lunar Outpost, near the moon’s south pole.
- Firefly Aerospace will provide the first drones to fly on the moon.
- These machines are planned to arrive before the first astronauts land as part of the Artemis missions, starting with Artemis III in 2028.
- The Artemis II mission in 2026 sent four astronauts around the moon, going farther than Apollo missions did.
- Artemis III, planned for mid-2027, will test the docking of NASA’s Orion capsule with lunar landers in orbit.
- From 2029 to early 2030s, NASA will build permanent infrastructure on the moon, like a power grid.
- The base is expected to support long-term living in the 2030s with permanent habitats.
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