Nasa unveils new lunar missions to lay groundwork for future Moon base

WASHINGTON, July 1 — Nasa yesterday announced new uncrewed missions to aid in the future creation of a lunar surface base, a project beginning to take shape despite recent setbacks.

Three US companies were awarded contracts for missions to deliver cargo including scientific instruments to the Moon, said Nasa, which will pay nearly $600 million for the projects that supplement others announced in May.

The efforts are part of plans to use robotic vehicles to build infrastructure that future human explorers to the Moon could eventually make use of.

The announcement comes as the US space agency’s lunar ambitions have faced setbacks following the spectacular explosion this spring of the New Glenn rocket, which is built by tech billionaire Jeff Bezos’s company Blue Origin.

Senior agency officials have acknowledged that the situation would likely cause lunar program delays, but voiced optimism yesterday, also indicating there were alternatives to launch a lander carrying equipment developed by Blue Origin.

“We’re working with Blue Origin very closely to understand their timelines to recovery and also looking at other options in case it doesn’t meet our timeline,” said Carlos Garcia-Galan, Nasa program manager for the Moon base, during an event with journalists. 

After spending years to create a lunar orbital space station known as Gateway, Nasa overhauled its plans in March, saying it would be focused now on creating a base for surface operations.

They pledged US$20 billion to the Moon base efforts.

The base is planned for a site near the lunar south pole, a strategic area due to the presence of water ice in the soil. Nasa had previously said construction could begin in 2029.

Conceived to compete with China—which also aims to send humans to the Moon and establish a base there—Nasa’s ambitious plan remains vague in several aspects.

But the US agency has started to roll out its vision, which includes lunar landers, lunar rovers and drones designed to survey the terrain and subsequently build up infrastructure including a power grid and pressurized habitats.

The agency floated the possibility of repurposing a Mars rover as part of the efforts they’re aiming to complete in a tight timeframe. — AFP