Nasa reveals plan for colonisation of the Moon – including lunar rover, astronaut ‘camper van’ and four-person housing
NASA has revealed some of its plans for colonising the Moon.
The space agency's Artemis program hopes to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024.
One aim is to create an Artemis Base Camp that will allow humans to live on the Moon.
This could possibly be located in the Shackleton Crater on the Moon's south pole.
The plan is for four astronauts to live in accommodation there, possibly for a week at a time.
If humans were to stay any longer their accommodation would require more complicated things like a water and waste disposal system, radiation shielding, a launching pad and infrastructure for power.
Two mobility systems have been suggested, including a lunar terrain vehicle.
The other vehicle is referred to as a habitable mobility platform that could ferry crew from the base.
This vehicle would be used for longer trips as it would be contained and pressurised, whereas the lunar terrain vehicle would require a human to wear protective clothing.
The habitable vehicle would essentially be like a camper van.
The moon base is also intended to help astronauts prepare for an eventual trip to Mars.
This information came in the form of submitted to the National Space Council called "NASA’s Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development."
Nasa said: "In time, Artemis Base Camp might also include a hopper that could deliver science and technology payloads all over the moon and which could be operated by crew at Artemis Base Camp and refueled using locally sourced propellant."
The space agency added: A lunar far-side radio telescope could also be remotely emplaced and operated from Artemis Base Camp — a sort of backyard radio-telescope at our first encampment on the moon."
The Moon – our closest neighbour explained
Here's what you need to know...
- The Moon is a natural satellite – a space-faring body that orbits a planet
- It's Earth's only natural satellite, and is the fifth biggest in the Solar System
- The Moon measures 2,158 miles across, roughly 0.27 times the diameter of Earth
- Temperatures on the Moon range from minus 173 degrees Celcius to 260 degrees Celcius
- Experts assumed the Moon was another planet, until Nicolaus Copernicus outlined his theory about our Solar System in 1543
- It was eventually assigned to a "class" after Galileo discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610
- The Moon is believed to have formed around 4.51billion years ago
- The strength of its gravitational field is about a sixth of Earth's gravity
- Earth and the Moon have "synchronous rotation", which means we always see the same side of the Moon – hence the phrase "dark side of the Moon"
- The Moon's surface is actually dark, but appears bright in the sky due to its reflective ground
- During a solar eclipse, the Moon covers the Sun almost completely. Both objects appear a similar size in the sky because the Sun is both 400 times larger and farther
- The first spacecraft to reach the Moon was in 1959, as part of the Soviet Union's Lunar program
- The first manned orbital mission was Nasa's Apollo 8 in 1968
- And the first manned lunar landing was in 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission
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Do you like the sound of these plans? Let us know in the comments...
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