The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says it plans to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon as a testing ground for technologies and systems needed for future missions to Mars.
Speaking on NASA’s Houston We Have a Podcast, Moon Base Programme Manager Carlos García-Galán said the planned base near the lunar south pole will allow NASA to learn how to live and work on another celestial body before attempting longer-duration missions to Mars.
“The Moon is going to be our proving ground,” García-Galán said.
According to García-Galán, the Moon Base programme will be developed in three phases, beginning with robotic missions to gather data and test technologies before humans gradually spend longer periods on the lunar surface.
“We want to start by sending a lot of robotic missions to the Moon,” he said, explaining that the missions will help NASA gather data and test technologies before increasing human activity on the lunar surface.
The first phase will involve more than 20 robotic landings, followed by human missions, including Artemis IV, which is expected to land astronauts on the Moon in 2028.
García-Galán said Artemis IV will be an important step in testing how astronauts operate around the Moon Base.
“We’re going to have the first human landing, and that will be Artemis IV,” he said.
The second phase will see an increase in human missions and the development of infrastructure, including a pressurised rover capable of supporting astronauts as they travel farther from their landing sites.
“We want to have a pressurised rover by the end of Phase 2,” García-Galán said.
In the third phase, NASA plans to introduce habitation elements capable of supporting two to four astronauts for longer-duration missions, eventually moving towards a permanent presence.
“We’re going to start having habitation elements that will allow us to stay for longer periods of time,” he said.
García-Galán said the Moon’s harsh environment will provide an opportunity to test systems needed for Mars, including power generation, communications, navigation, transportation, radiation protection and the use of local resources.
“The Moon is close enough that we can learn from our mistakes,” he said, highlighting the role of the lunar programme in preparing for more distant missions.
The lunar south pole has been selected because some permanently shadowed regions are believed to contain volatiles, including water, while some elevated areas receive more consistent sunlight.
However, García-Galán said operating at the south pole will present significant challenges, including extreme temperatures, radiation, micrometeorites and toxic lunar regolith.
“We have a very harsh environment at the lunar south pole,” he said.
He pointed to the challenges of operating in areas that experience extreme temperatures and long periods of darkness.
García-Galán said technologies developed and tested on the Moon could eventually help NASA establish a human presence farther from Earth.
“The idea is to use the Moon as a proving ground for Mars,” he said.
In April, the Artemis II crew completed a 10-day lunar flyby mission, becoming the first humans to travel to the Moon’s vicinity in more than 50 years, since the Apollo programme ended in December 1972.
