Nasa reveals more about plans for future Moon base
Nasa has published artist's drawings of a Moon base with housing, power systems and rovers
- Published
In March, Nasa announced it's aim to build a permanent base on the Moon by 2032 - and now we're finding out more about how they plan to do it.
The US space agency has released details of robotic landers, hopping drones and vehicles it plans to use to help build the lunar base.
The United States wants to land Americans back on the Moon before Donald Trump finishes his term as president in 2029.
But, China also has ambitions to return humans to the lunar surface by 2030, so the two countries are competing to try and achieve their goals as quickly as possible.
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Watch: Nasa shows renderings for planned permanent moon base
According to the plans set out by Nasa, the base will be powered by nuclear and solar energy at the Moon's South Pole, and is expected to cost around $20 billion to construct.
Once it is built it would allow the US to carry out scientific experiments, mine for valuable resources, and travel to Mars more easily.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin is one of several companies picked to build the machines, which includes a lunar lander called Endurance.
It would be able to carry out precise landings, as well as autonomous navigation and control.
A drawing of a drone in Nasa's MoonFall programme that will survey the South Pole
The machines will also include high-resolution cameras and tools that use reflected laser light to help the craft land.
They expect the robots to continue exploring the Moon until 2029, with 25 launches and four metric tonnes of cargo planned to be landed.
Nasa also wants to build nuclear and solar power facilities there, including fission reactors.
By 2032, the space agency wants humans to be able to live on the Moon in "semi-permanent" housing.
Although Nasa was successful in sending four astronauts around the Moon in its Artemis II mission in April, there were set backs.
Many experts now wonder if Nasa's plans can be achieved in the timescale they have proposed.
Some scientists think China is likely to be the next country to land humans on the lunar surface.
"It would not surprise me at all if China gets there first," Dr Simeon Barber, Lunar Scientist at Open University, told BBC News.
