By 
July 1st, 2022
Credit: JAXA/NHK/Paul Spudis
Similar to house hunting on Earth, being on the lookout for desirable property on the Moon gives rise to a common, but extraterrestrial maxim: “location, location, location.”
NASA is eying an Artemis Base Camp, calling it “our first foothold on the lunar frontier.” The ingredients for that encampment are a Lunar Terrain Vehicle – an unpressurized rover – to transport suited astronauts around the site; a habitable mobility platform – a pressurized rover – to enable long-duration treks away from Artemis Base Camp. Lastly there would be the surface habitat itself, capable of housing four humans at a lunar south pole locale.
Credit: NASA
This home-away-from-home demands a lot of infrastructure such as communications, power, and radiation shielding, waste disposal and storage space too. All of these domicile niceties, NASA planners say, are requirements for a sustained capability on the Moon that can be revisited and built upon over the coming decades.
Go to my new Space.com story – “Where will NASA set up its moon base? – Scientists and mission planners are searching for the best site” – at:
Posted in Space News
