Lunar outpost

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On December 4, 2006, NASA announced that its global architecture studies had concluded on the construction of a solar-powered Lunar outpost at one of the poles of the Moon.^[1] This still-unnamed outpost will be established over a period of five years between 2019 and 2024, and will be permanentlty occupied by increments of six months, starting in 2025.

1 The base
2 Justification
3 References
4 See also

[edit] The base

A reference architecture has been established for this outpost, based on a location on the rim of the Shackelton crater, located in the immense South Pole-Aitken basin, near the Moon's south pole.

The outpost will include:

habitation modules
solar power units
unpressurized rovers
ISRU unit
surface mobility carrier

The element would be brought by a mix crew and cargo Lunar Surface Access Module, capable of bringing four astronauts and a payload of 6 tons to the Moon's surface.

As currently envisioned, an incremental buildup would begin with four-person crews making several seven-day visits to the moon until their power supplies, rovers and living quarters are operational. The first mission would begin by 2020. These would be followed by 180-day missions to prepare for journeys to Mars.

[edit] Justification

NASA proposes six "Lunar exploration themes" to answer the question "Why should we return to the Moon?"

Human Civilization: Extend human presence to the Moon to enable eventual settlement;
Scientific Knowledge: Pursue scientific activities that address fundamental questions about the history of Earth, the solar system and the universe - and about our place in them;
Exploration Preparation: Test technologies, systems, flight operations and exploration techniques to reduce the risks and increase the productivity of future missions to Mars and beyond;
Global Partnerships: Provide a challenging, shared and peaceful activity that unites nations in pursuit of common objectives;
Economic Expansion: Expand Earth's economic sphere, and conduct lunar activities with benefits to life on the home planet; and
Public Engagement: Use a vibrant space exploration program to engage the public, encourage students and help develop the high-tech workforce that will be required to address the challenges of tomorrow.^[2]

Columnist Gregg Easterbrook has criticized the plans as a poor use of resources. He writes that

the idea of a permanent, crewed moon base nevertheless takes the cake for preposterousness. Although, of course, the base could yield a great discovery, its scientific value is likely to be small while its price is extremely high. Worse, moon-base nonsense may for decades divert NASA resources from the agency's legitimate missions, draining funding from real needs in order to construct human history's silliest white elephant. ^[3]

According to Easterbrook, the billions of dollars that a lunar colony might cost should instead be devoted to exploring the solar system with space probes; space observatories; and protecting the Earth from Near-Earth asteroids.