//NASA’s Nine: Human Settlements on the Moon

NASA’s Nine: Human Settlements on the Moon

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SOURCE: NASA, Space.com

In November, NASA tagged nine American companies as eligible to bid on delivering robotic NASA payloads to the moon, via Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts.

The ultimate goal? Look for the water on the moon, which is known to be on the surface deep inside the craters as ice.

Once they do that, they will consider human settlements on the moon.

The water won’t just be for drinking, but also to split to utilize hydrogen and oxygen as rocket fuel, according to Space.comhttps://www.space.com/amp/nasa-land-robot-moon-2019.html.

The nine companies NASA selected in November are Astrobotic, Deep Space Systems, Draper, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin Space, Masten Space Systems, Moon Express and Orbit Beyond. 

NASA said they will compete to carry a variety of payloads over the coming months and years. Some launches will carry scientific instruments intended to help solve moon mysteries, whereas others will deliver resource-prospecting gear and other technology demonstrations designed to pave the way for human settlement.

Thursday (Feb. 14), officials at NASA announced that the first “task order” for such a delivery will likely come out in a month or so — and that flight is expected to follow in relatively short order.

“For us, if we had any wish, I would like to fly this calendar year,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said during a webcast “media roundtable” at agency headquarters in Washington. [21 Most Marvelous Moon Missions of All Time]

“We care about speed. We want to start taking shots on goal,” Zurbuchen said, noting that NASA will provide the eligible companies with financial incentives to get off the ground faster. He added that NASA doesn’t expect every lunar landing will be successful.