Nasa chiefs are “giving a lot of thought” to meteor strikes on the lunar surface in ambitious plans to develop a base on the Moon.
Space agency boss Jared Isaacman has said there were going to be potentially hazardous environmental factors that needed to be taken into account in establishing an outpost.
He made his comments after it was revealed, last month, that a comet or asteroid the size of a building up to six-storeys high had crashed into the moon’s surface back in 2024.
The impact left a crater about 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep.
The proposed lunar outpost would provide a continual human presence on the moon (Nasa)
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Scientists have described the magnitude of the collision as a “once-in-a-lifetime” incident, which occurred around every century.
During the Artemis II space mission, earlier this year, around the far side of the Moon, the astronauts aboard observed several flashes as small space rocks, known as meteoroids, slammed directly into the lunar surface at high speeds without an atmosphere to burn them up.
Nasa plans to land people back on the natural satellite in 2028, with a view to having a Moon base up and running by 2032, providing a continual human presence with routine crew rotations.
The pioneering project aims to develop the technologies needed for future deep space voyages, including to Mars.
Nasa is scheduled to launch the Artemis III mission next year.
Four crew members will test low Earth orbit docking procedures between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers, developed by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Mr Isaacman was asked about the implications of the recently discovered asteroid strike on the far-reaching plans for a Moon base during a briefing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, on Friday.
He said: “Fortunately, that’s a once-in-a-century type of an event, so we’re fortunate in that regard.
“But there are much smaller meteor strikes that will happen on the lunar surface with greater frequency.
“We got some additional data from that from the great crew of Artemis II and some of the observations they relayed back during their mission.
“So, we are giving a lot of thought to that for the Moon base.”
Mr Isaacman pointed out a fleet of lunar rovers would be used to scout and map the Moon’s surface and inform the development of the outpost.
He said: “We’re going to learn and we’re going to gradually scale up capabilities because I guarantee you we’re going to need surface improvement.
“It’s why we’re not locking in the design for habitation modules today.
“We’re doing our science of survival, lots of uncrewed robotic landers, lots of demos, see what we like to build up to it.
“Because yes, there are going to be environmental factors we’re going to need to consider that could be hazardous and be able to address them. And we will do it in a logical, iterative way to get to the right outcome.”
Mr Isaacman also said he was impressed at the progress being made by the Blue Origin team, after its rocket dramatically exploded on the launchpad.
The spaceflight company has a key role to play from the outset in the Moon base plans.
The development relies in large part on the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, which detonated during an engine-firing test at the end of May.
Mr Isaacman said: “I think they’ve been very open about targeting the end of the year… they are moving with purpose.
“So, whether they hit December or they wind up in January, they’re breaking everyone’s records.”
Pressed over whether he would “put money” on landing astronauts on the Moon in 2028, Mr Isaac said: “We are putting taxpayer money on it, but we are doing so in the most efficient, responsible way we possibly can in that regard.”
He acknowledged that “a monumental effort is ahead” and added: “We are very eyes wide open to what needs to be done, and what needs to be done is to get ready to launch Artemis III. And, in parallel, we need to launch a lot of Moon-based missions.”
He added: “This is an achievable path we are on right now.
“We have the mandate, we have the resources, the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that’s what we intend to do.”