NASA is definitely thinking big on the moon.
The U.S. space agency plans to build a crewed lunar base over the next decade or so via its Artemis program — and we just got a sense of that project's impressive scope.
"We envision the moon base to be hundreds of square miles, with different assets all building up to the objective of permanent lunar presence on the moon," Carlos García-Galán, the manager of NASA's Moon Base program at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., said during a press conference Tuesday (May 26).
The base will be constructed over the next decade or so near the lunar south pole, which is thought to harbor large amounts of water ice. This precious resource has been accumulating for billions of years on the permanently shadowed floors of craters in the region, scientists say.
NASA didn't go into the moon base-planning process with a big footprint as a priority. Rather, it emerged naturally, as all of the envisioned elements started coming together in planners' heads.
"There's no one spot that covers all the science, all the technology, all the habitation needs of the surface, and even within the local area, you have to consider the terrain," NASA's Nujoud Merancy, chief architect of the Moon Base program, said during today's briefing.
"So, you'll have the habitats on the tops of the hills where they get sunlight," she added. "Power systems — nuclear systems — need to be a kilometer or more away for the radiation protection, so all of these things, when you start putting them together, end up sprawling a little bit more like a city as you start building it out."
And scientists and mission planners still don't know a lot about the lunar south pole, which is another reason for a settlement there to cover a lot of ground, according to García-Galán.
"We're going to want to explore different sites to really maximize the mix of scientific objectives and viability of a permanent presence," he said.
NASA plans to reduce the uncertainty via the use of MoonFall drones — small, hopping robots that will scout out the south polar region ahead of moon base construction. The first MoonFall batch, a set of three or four spacecraft, will launch to the moon in 2028 aboard a lander built by Firefly Aerospace, NASA announced today. (Firefly nabbed a $75 million contract for the mission, the company said.)
Those drones, or others like it, could also help mark the moon base's borders, said García-Galán.
"We're going to be able to basically put them at the corners of the areas where we think we have either key scientific objectives or we want to build up the moon base," he said.
China plans to build a base on the moon in the coming years as well (its first astronaut landing is aimed for 2030), and U.S. officials have repeatedly stressed the importance of getting the American one up and running first. The U.S. wants to be the one establishing norms of responsible behavior on Earth's nearest neighbor, the argument goes.
So, during today's press conference, Ars Technica's Eric Berger asked García-Galán and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who also participated in the event, if the MoonFall drones could help delineate a keep-out zone of sorts.
"I think it's important for us to get there first," Isaacman said. "I think the idea that there are areas of great interest on the lunar surface — we do want to get there and explore them, and we also obviously want to be very mindful of the Outer Space Treaty, so that we are respectful of other nations that are putting assets on the on the lunar surface. We would expect that to be reciprocal."
The moon base's envisioned size was just a sidelight of today's event. The main purpose was to announce contracts that the agency just awarded to get the ball rolling on the outpost's construction.
Firefly wasn't the only compay to win a NASA Moon Base program contract. NASA is giving California-based Astrolab $219 million and Colorado's Lunar Outpost $220 million for production of their lunar terrain vehicles (LTVs).
LTVs are large rovers that Artemis astronauts will use to explore the lunar surface. These vehicles will also be capable of autonomous operation, meaning they can land before crewed missions, be remotely controlled from Earth, and meet up with astronauts at their touchdown sites. And that is indeed the goal: NASA wants to have at least one LTV on the lunar surface before Artemis 4 touches down near the lunar south pole in late 2028.
Both LTVs will be delivered to the lunar surface by Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander, NASA announced today. Those two contracts are worth $234 million apiece, agency officials said during the briefing.
Blue Origin is also building a crewed variant of Blue Moon, which is in the running to fly the Artemis 3 and Artemis 4 astronaut missions, as well as future flights.
Artemis 3 is a docking test in Earth orbit between NASA's Orion capsule and one or both of the program's privately developed crewed lunar landers — Blue Moon and SpaceX's Starship. NASA aims to launch Artemis 3 in mid-2027, Isaacman said today.
NASA plans to build the moon base in three phases. Phase One, which runs from now through 2029, will gather detailed information and "secure reliable access" to the lunar surface, according to the agency.
Phase Two runs from 2029 to 2032 and will set up the base's "initial operating capability." Phase Three, which runs from 2032 far into the future, will "achieve semi-permanent crew presence" on the moon.
“The Moon Base will be America's and humanity's first outpost on another celestial world," Isaacman said in a NASA statement today. "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."
NASA has launched two Artemis missions to date. Artemis 1 sent an uncrewed Orion capsule to lunar orbit and back in late 2022, and Artemis 2 took four astronauts around the moon in Orion last month. Both missions were successful.
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Mike WallSpaceflight and Tech EditorMichael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.
