WEB DESK: The American space agency NASA has unveiled its new plans for lunar and Martian exploration. While NASA has long discussed establishing permanent human habitats and facilities on the Moon, this is the first time a concrete timeline has been provided.
During an event, NASA Administrator Gerard Azcón explained that the Moon base will not be built overnight. Instead, over the next seven years, NASA intends to invest $20 billion into constructing the base through multiple missions.
He also revealed other significant projects, including the development of a nuclear-powered spacecraft for Mars, which they aim to launch by 2028. Azcón highlighted that NASA has discontinued plans for building a space station in lunar orbit to focus on these new initiatives.
Azcón noted that China is making rapid advancements in space exploration and poses a challenge to U.S. dominance in space. Regarding the lunar base, he said that NASA’s past achievements in the 1960s proved that seemingly impossible missions can become reality, and now they aim to do so again with this new base.
The plan includes launching a nuclear-powered space reactor, named “Freedom,” to Mars by 2028. Once on Mars, the spacecraft will deploy helicopters to explore the planet’s secrets.
However, Azcón mentioned that returning astronauts to the lunar surface might face delays, as SpaceX has yet to succeed in developing landers capable of supporting NASA’s lunar missions.
