Science
Related: About this forumNasa unveils next steps to build permanent Moon base
Source: BBC
Nasa unveils next steps to build permanent Moon base
26 May 2026
Georgina Rannard
Science reporter
Nasa has released details of robotic landers, hopping drones and vehicles it aims to send to the Moon as part of US plans to build a lunar base.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin is one of several companies picked to build the machines.
The US wants to land Americans back on the Moon before President Donald Trump leaves office in 2028.
But Nasa is competing with China to return humans to the lunar surface, meaning the space agency is under pressure to appear to be winning the new space race.
China is forging ahead with its own plans to land humans on the Moon by 2030.
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39228nxyr4o
Irish_Dem
(82,497 posts)Where does the money for a moon base come from?
How much are the billionaires and Trump going to make on this boondoggle.
erronis
(24,602 posts)Musk, of course, also.
I wouldn't trust either of these to send people to the moon ---- and bring them back.
Irish_Dem
(82,497 posts)Just a bunch of rich people who get richer on the latest scam.
slightlv
(8,037 posts)From the same place as it comes for his Great Arch, a reform of the Reflecting Pool, a grand ballroom and data center bunker underneath it. Plus all those banners which adorn the government building, just like in China and N Korea. We pay the cost, but reaping any rewards will be in what the conglomerates can make from it for us to buy.
I long for the days of Research for the pure unadulterated joy and discovery of research.
Eugene
(67,355 posts)Source: The Guardian
Nasa selects Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin for first of three uncrewed lunar missions
Three lunar landings are planned for this year in preparation for the construction of a $20bn moon base
Richard Luscombe
Tue 26 May 2026 21.14 BST
Last modified on Tue 26 May 2026 22.19 BST
Nasa announced on Tuesday ambitious plans for three uncrewed lunar missions this year to kickstart construction of a $20bn moon base, and said it had chosen the Amazon founder Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin, ahead of Elon Musks SpaceX, to conduct the first.
The revelation by Nasas administrator, Jared Isaacman, at a press conference in Washington DC marked the first detailed public explanation of how and when the moon base will be built.
He said the three missions planned for 2026 would be followed by more than a dozen more in the coming years to test systems and equipment. He said the highly successful Artemis II mission last month that sent four astronauts around the moon for the first time since 1972 had been both a catalyst and incentive to advance the moon base plan.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/26/nasa-jeff-bezos-blue-origin
Irish_Dem
(82,497 posts)They will trash this planet and go to a new moon base.
slightlv
(8,037 posts)and tell them to build it. Get them off our planet once and for all, IMO.
Irish_Dem
(82,497 posts)Warpy
(114,709 posts)that were let unanswered by the limitations of technology 50 years ago, sample more than surace dust.
A permanent colony is many decades away, and might not be a good idea, at all.
We don't even know if the lava tubes the sci fi crowd are counting on exist after millions of years of bombardment. That might be a question for a moon landing if we can make ground penetrating radar small enough. In any case, there are just too many problems to solve right now, especially regarding logistics and the sheer expense of supporting such a massive endeavor.
Besides, we're looking at the next financial crash, first. I'm afraid Musk, Thiel, Zuckerberb, and all their buddies are going to find out Galt's Gulch is an alley with a full dumpster in it long before we're ready to set up a mink lined on on the Moon.
(I'm tempted to call it a Moondoggle, but I'm better than that)