Nasa To Build £20bn Permanent Base On Moon

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]the Americans are going to use these um moonfall hoppers to move around an area of 1,000 square miles and a journalist did ask the question at the meeting on Tuesday which I thought was a good question pointing out well are you really sort of staking out that thousand square miles as American territory and they sort of pointed out say no we're not but I think the point is they probably are and remember we have a space force in the United States operate a space force so you're going to have to be able to possibly defend that territory so all the human foibless that we have down here will be taken out to us into space just as they were when the old world went to the new world and exploited and and worked away across America. We will do exactly the same thing. Uh the trick is can we live together in a bit more harmony when we're doing it rather than falling out.

[00:00:43]That's going to be the hard part. But that's part of the human condition and we need to accept that.

[00:00:48]>> NASA has unveiled plans to build a 20 billion pound permanent base on the moon to test what they call the epic science of survival. Construction will begin this year with hopes of establishing a semi-permanent crew presence on the moon by 2032. Not that far away. Let's talk to space expert Andy Loun. A very good afternoon from us, Andy.

[00:01:09]>> Good afternoon. Thank you for having me.

[00:01:10]>> How are you?

[00:01:11]>> I'm good. I'm really good now, especially with the news on Tuesday.

[00:01:14]Yes, >> very exciting. Can you just talk our listeners through what has to be the most fantastic suit you're wearing today?

[00:01:21]>> Oh, right. Yes. Yes. It's just a nice jacket which has got planets and uh um um planets, stars and charts of of planetary motions on my jacket. Yes.

[00:01:32]>> Right. Is that in M&S's summer collection?

[00:01:35]>> Oh, it isn't. No, it came from uh Far East.

[00:01:38]>> Okay. [laughter] It's gorgeous. Uh Andy, how significant is this development?

[00:01:43]It's a total first for humanity, isn't it?

[00:01:47]>> Yeah, this is an important development.

[00:01:48]This is sort of now doing what we thought we might do after Apollo started. But of course we one we didn't have the technology or the resources to actually do what we'd like to do now. We have the technology now at last to to explore the moon in a proper way instead of just grabbing a few samples and coming home. Scientists really need to be on the surface of the moon. And we need dedicated scientists. Only one scientist actually went to the moon during the Apollo era, a geologist. So now we can have scientists with a number of disciplines living and working on the moon. uh on a long-term basis means developing a lot of technologies which are actually just about there anyway which are going to be quite useful for the earth anyway and of course we're going to see the first prospecting of the moon as well looking for rare earth metals and materials that could be useful to our planet which could be accessible on the moon especially with our electronics industry where we need rare earth metals in those and they're becoming more and more difficult to obtain from the from the earth deeper down under the oceans we'd actually be easy to do that on the moon and of course the moon then would be a place where we learn how to survive and operate. Interesting enough, green tech would be necessary to survive in an area like that as a as a staging post really to going on if you want to live on Mars, which is the long-term goal is to put humans on Mars. So, this is really the stepping stone if you like to the exploration of the solar system.

[00:03:04]>> Talk us through the basic challenges of actually building a base on the moon.

[00:03:09]>> Getting the initial materials there. We have number of vehicles of course which are being developed at the moment including SpaceX which which can looks like it's developing a very heavy system so it can deliver tons of material onto the surface but you've got two other companies also with vehicles that can actually drop material. So you got to drop the raw materials onto the moon for starters. Uh you got to have power supplies on the moon. They got to go to the south pole region. Um and of course the moon goes through its cycle um moon does rotate on its on its axis but of course it it it rotates around the earth at the same speed. So therefore there are about depending on the breaks between 27 and 29 days uh the moon rotates. So it means you're going to have about 14 days of darkness 14 days of light which means of course that when it's dark you can't simply use solar panels to generate electricity. So you're going to have nuclear power stations down there. Uh you're also going to use possibly uh hydrogen fuel cells fuel cell systems which are regenerative fuel cell systems to actually keep power going. So that development technology is here. It's available. So that's going to be used on the moon. So that's a big thing. Also, south pole region of the moon are going to try and find water ice. That's really important. Water made out of hydrogen oxygen. So you can actually use the oxygen to breathe, hydrogen for fuel or combine them together with a hydrogen fuel cell to generate electricity and water. So that's absolutely critical that we actually get there to use that kind of facility for doing that. So there's a lot of steps to actually do and within a short period I mean phase one between now and 2029 is spacecraft which going to be sent to the moon to if you like scan out the area where they're going to put the bases work out what's there how to do it where to land test the landing vehicles then 29-32 early habitation the first habitation modules should be being dropped in 2029 which is quite remarkable and then 2032 onwards sustained human presence which when you look at it it's it's quite a very short period but the Americans need to do this in this short period because Trump wants to do it uh in his presidency because of course there are concerns that China are planning to land humans on the moon in 2030 and start setting up their own base. So there is a bit of a race on here and America want to actually demonstrate using the Artemis Accords where other nations are involved including Britain that uh you can actually go into space for good reasons to humanity and the 1967 out of space treaty. They want to actually cite that so for good governance on the moon when they get there and not just simply exploitation uh by nations for their own sake. And Andrew, how how do you think that that's actually going to go? I mean, as we've witnessed on this planet, you can sign a treaty, you can live in hope that people abide by it, but they they really don't.

[00:05:48]Won't it be exactly the same on other planets?

[00:05:51]>> I think you're absolutely right. I think you've hit the nail bang on there. I think that's what's going to happen. If China get into their section, they're going to stake an area out and say this is Chinese territory. The Americans are going to use these um moonfall hoppers to move around an area of a thousand square miles. And a journalist did ask the question at the meeting on Tuesday, which I thought was a good question, pointing out, well, are you really sort of staking out that thousand square miles as American territory? And they sort of pointed out say, no, we're not, but I think the point is they probably are. Uh, and remember, we have a space force. The United States operate a space force. So, you're going to have to be able to possibly defend that territory.

[00:06:24]So all the human foibless that we have down here will be taken out to us into space just as they were when the old world went to the new world and exploited and and worked away across America. We will do exactly the same thing. H the trick is can we live together in a bit more harmony when we're doing it rather than falling out.

[00:06:43]That's going to be the hard part. But that's part of the human condition and we need to accept that >> we do. The other essential part of any human condition is breathing. And I I hope it's not too daft a question, but I what would the astronauts, the space dwellers do for oxygen outside of the spacecraft?

[00:07:03]>> Well, yes, you're going to have to build habitats. You've got the International Space Station. You see the modules on the International Space Station to have modules very similar to that, only they be be actually mounted onto the surface of the moon and possibly covered over slightly with the the lunar regulate to give it some additional protection from solar radiation and so on. And then they would have oxygen generating plants to generate oxygen. There's a number of ways that can actually be done. We do it on the space station already. Um this is where if you can find water ice water ice on the moon, that'd be great because of course you can split that into hydrogen and the oxygen and then use the oxygen and then use the hydrogen for fuel. So that would be good to actually do that. Uh if you got nuclear power plants, of course, you have the ability then to use processes to generate oxygen. So they'll have to generate their own oxygen there either from the regalith which could be done from from the rocks as well but more than likely through water ice which will be actually on the surface.

[00:07:55]>> Are you very envious of these developments Andy? I mean as somebody who obviously loves their space and everything to do with it. What does this mean to you?

[00:08:04]>> Personally it's very exciting because as a as a boy when I was growing up it was Apollo and getting excited and of course Polo sort of died to death and we went to Earth orbital activities. So this is really what I've always set my eyes on.

[00:08:15]It's why I studied astronomy and space science because I was really interested in the subject itself. It's probably come a bit late for me to get any opportunity to actually go sadly. But but nonetheless, I would go at a drop of a hat if there was an opportunity. But I tell young people who are out there, young people who are listening, space exploration is now a career option for those people out there. If they study, they have a chance to explore the universe that people like me only dreamed of. And the opportunity is there and I think those opportunities are going to be fantastic and I just want to make sure that I live long enough to see the benefits and the knowledge that we gain from this exploration.

[00:08:51]>> Well, we hope so too. It's always an absolute joy to talk to you. Thank you very much indeed. That space expert Andy Loun is mindboggling Jane that that is going to be completed the actual space dwelling ability uh by 2032.

[00:09:06]>> Yeah. Well, on that note, >> it is quicker than a bypass. Jeremy chips in with a very very very pertinent. You should mention that.

[00:09:12]Jeremy says, "So NASA could build five moon bases over 240,000 miles away for the same price that the UK can build a 100 miles of highspeed railway between London and Birmingham." What does that tell you?