Honestly, the Moon—with its beautiful, minimalist design and presumably comfortable lack of gravity—seems like the perfect place to live. As Earth continues to go further down the rabbit hole of inevitable self-destruction, plans for NASA's reliably ambitious lunar return have surfaced.
Are Technica's Eric Berger came through with word Monday that a fresh plan for NASA's get-back-to-the-Moon-by-2024 initiative started circulating within the agency earlier this month. The report also includes a graphic outlining the agency's steps toward that return, a path to modern lunar glory that includes plans for construction of a permanent Moon base. The base, per the graphic, is set to begin construction in 2028 and is titled here as a Lunar Surface Asset Deployment.
Berger also points to the three biggest hurdles the plan faces: funding, reliance on contractors, and the need for a revised Block 1B. The total cost of the plan, possibly out of fear of it being used to deter support for a dedicated effort to a lunar return, has not been determined.
By sheer coincidence, the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference in June has chosen the Moon as one of its central themes, a decision Space.com reports was made before NASA started publicly teasing its Moon return expectations.
"We're at the right place and the right time, playing the right sheet of music," NSS board of directors member Bruce Pittman told the site Monday.
Speaking of "the right sheet of music," it is indeed a very good year for space-influenced songs.
For further space love, check out this amazing fucking photo:
In July, NASA will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch.
President Donald Trump previously announced his administration would be "restoring [NASA] to greatness" by going back to the Moon, and later, Mars. "I am updating my budget to include an additional $1.6 billion so that we can return to Space in a BIG WAY!" he wrote via Twitter.
