NASA discusses progress on Moon Base program

WASHINGTON (NBC, KYMA) - NASA held a press conference Tuesday to announce plans to get America back on the moon.

The agency outlined plans for three uncrewed missions to the moon, set to launch later this year, which will serve as early steps toward the long-term goal of building a permanent base on the lunar surface.

"America is returning to the moon. We are working alongside our many international commercial partners to leverage the incredible capabilities from commercial industry to build a moon base. For all we hope to accomplish in this endeavor, what we are embarking upon is extremely challenging, and we know so little from what is a combined 80 hours of lunar astronaut EVA time across the Apollo missions, and that was more than a half century ago."

Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator

The missions, called Moon Base 1, Moon Base 2 and Moon Base 3, will include scouting locations at the moon's South Pole, gathering scientific data, testing technologies and preparing for the return of NASA astronauts.

"In the three phases we've described, we hope to have some sort of habitation capability in phase two with the pressurized rover. That will be where the astronauts can land on their human-rated lander, hop on the pressurized rover, and basically work and explore the moon on a short-lived environment, and then from there go to different locations where they can get out of the pressurized rover, perhaps hop onto a lunar terrain vehicle, and even go farther with EVA suits. In phase two, we'll be building permanent infrastructure, including laying out a power grid and things like that, all building up to what it takes to do permanent habitation."

Carlos Garcia-Galan, Moon Base Program Executive

The agency's Moon Base plans are meant to be executed in tandem with its Artemis return-to-the-moon program, which last month, carried out the Artemis II mission, sending four astronauts on a 10-day journey around Earth and the moon.

To watch the press conference in full, see attached video.