NASA’s permanent Moon base plans start with three missions this year

Source: The Verge

Upcoming lunar missions

On Tuesday, NASA announced several upcoming lunar missions to the Moon’s South Pole region. These missions will pave the way for the crewed Artemis landing slated for 2028, starting with three Moon Base missions NASA says are “the first of more than a dozen missions that will be announced this year.”

Moon Base I

• Launch window: No earlier than fall 2026
• Lander: Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance
• Payloads:
  • Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume‑Surface Studies instrument
  • Laser Retroreflective Array

NASA will use these instruments to study how thrusters interact with the Moon’s surface and to help [orbit‑related research] (link to original source if available).

Source

Read the full story at The Verge.