NASA has released its five-year, $28 billion budgetary plan to return four astronauts to the surface of the Moon by 2024 — for the first time in more than 50 years. The aggressive timeline hinges on Congress approving $3.2 billion to kick-start development of new lunar landers.
The plan unveiled Monday, reports Spaceflight Now, assumes that crews will lift off on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket, fly to the Moon on an Orion capsule, then transfer on a commercially developed lander to shuttle astronauts to and from the lunar surface where they will maintain a base for exploration and scientific investigation.
The 2024 date is “the most ambitious possible,” states “NASA’s Lunar Exploration Program Overview.”
The Artemis Plan calls for developing a base camp on the lunar South Pole, possibly in Shackleton Crater. Key infrastructure includes the Orion spacecraft to deliver humans to lunar orbit, the Gateway orbiting the Moon to function as a transfer-and-docking station for the lunar lander, and The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) on the surface of the Moon.
Key elements of the base camp include an unpressurized lunar terrain vehicle, a habitable pressurized rover, a habitation module, power systems, and systems to exploit in situ resources.
NASA also envisions using upgraded spacesuits designed for the lunar surface, allowing more frequent spacewalks, with new-and-improved safety features, custom fitting, simplified maintenance, and better communications.
NASA will use robotic explorers to inspect the lunar surface to identify resources and future landing sites.
On the first landing, says the NASA plan, astronauts will collect samples to return to Earth for research: rock samples to help date the sequence of impact events on the Moon; core tube samples to capture ancient solar wind trapped in regolith layers; and paired samples of material within and outside a permanently shadowed region to characterize the presence of volatiles and assess geotechnical differences between materials inside and outside of permanent shadows.
Crew members will focus on set-up tasks including configuring the lander for contingency return, and unpacking tools and equipment. They will also pre-position dust-cleaning equipment to minimize the amount of lunar dust tracked into the cabin.
Rovers analyzing samples will send data to relays orbiting the Moon, which can transmit the data back to Earth. Astronauts on the lunar surface will receive real-time alerts from space weather instruments of incoming solar flares, giving them time to seek cover.
Infrastructure at the base camp will support one- to two-month expeditions.