NASA discusses challenge of establishing base on the moon

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]We're leveraging the NASA playbook from the 1960s, figuring out what works and what doesn't in this epic science of survival because the moon base is as beautiful as it is hostile.

[00:00:13]In sunlight, the surface can heat to over 250°.

[00:00:17]In darkness, it can drop well below minus 200.

[00:00:20]>> [snorts] >> In the permanently shaded craters, areas of great interest that have been untouched by sunlight for millions, even billions of years, temperatures can fall well below minus 400°.

[00:00:31]There is no atmosphere to moderate these extremes, no protection from radiation and solar particle events, and the surface is exposed to meteorite impacts, including the kind of light flashes the Artemis 2 crew observed from orbit.

[00:00:44]Recognizing this reality, I'm often asked why we send our astronauts into such harsh and dangerous and unforgiving environment of space or the lunar surface and at such great cost.

[00:00:55]And we go for the technology we will pioneer to get there, the science and all that we will learn that will make life better here on Earth, to advance humankind on this great adventure, to inspire the next generation to do it better than we can, and to be very clear, to master the skills for where we will inevitably go next.