Nasa expects humans to live on Moon this decade, NASA has set a goal to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon by the end of this decade. This ambitious plan, known as the Artemis program, involves sending astronauts back to the Moon, building a lunar outpost, and eventually, using the Moon as a stepping stone for human exploration of Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
The Artemis program was announced by NASA in 2019, with a target date of 2024 for the first crewed mission to the lunar surface. However, due to budget constraints and technical challenges, NASA has pushed back the timeline for the first crewed landing to 2025 or later.
The Artemis program is named after the Greek goddess of the Moon, and it has a number of goals. One of the primary objectives is to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, with astronauts staying for weeks or months at a time. This will require the construction of a lunar outpost, which will serve as a base for scientific research, exploration, and technology development.
NASA plans to build the lunar outpost in the south pole region of the Moon, where there are water ice deposits that could be used for drinking water, oxygen production, and rocket fuel. The outpost will be designed to withstand the harsh lunar environment, with radiation shielding, thermal insulation, and other features to protect the astronauts and equipment.
The Artemis program also aims to develop new technologies and capabilities that will enable human exploration of the Moon and other destinations in the solar system. This includes the development of a new spacecraft, the Orion capsule, which will carry astronauts to and from the lunar surface. NASA is also working on a new lunar lander, called the Human Landing System, which will be used to transport astronauts from the Orion capsule to the lunar surface.
In addition to these hardware developments, NASA is also investing in new spacesuits, communication systems, and other technologies that will be needed for human exploration of the Moon and beyond.
NASA has set a number of milestones for the Artemis program over the next few years. In 2021, the agency plans to launch the first uncrewed test flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), which is the rocket that will be used to launch the Orion capsule and other components of the Artemis program.
In 2022, NASA plans to launch the first crewed mission of the Orion capsule, which will be a test flight in Earth orbit. This will be followed by a series of other test flights and missions to the Moon, leading up to the first crewed landing in the mid-2020s.
The Artemis program is an ambitious and challenging endeavor, but it has the potential to usher in a new era of human space exploration. By establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon, NASA and its international partners can learn more about the history and composition of our nearest neighbor, develop new technologies and capabilities for future exploration, and inspire a new generation of scientists, engineers, and explorers.