NASA’s Artemis Base Camp & Plans For Lunar Resources
It has been around half a century since the last time a human stepped foot on the Moon. However, this is set to change in a relatively short period of time as NASA and the long list of companies working with the agency work on projects meant for future Artemis missions. Not only does the agency plan to return humans to the Moon in a few years, but set up a more permanent human presence.
This being said, it is much easier landing humans on the surface and leaving not long after compared to a sustained stay. Here, NASA will need to pre-stage a large amount of equipment and create vital infrastructure to support humans on the surface. This complex process is also intended to make use of some of the resources the Moon offers.
As important launch vehicles such as the Space Launch System continue to make progress, we get closer and closer to some of the first official Artemis missions. At the same time, the prep has already begun with missions like CAPSTONE set to launch in only a few weeks. Here I will go more in-depth into NASA’s plan for the base and how they intend to utilize resources on the surface.
Artemis Base Camp
Artemis Base Camp will be the first foothold on the lunar frontier. The three proposed primary mission elements of Artemis Base Camp are the Lunar Terrain Vehicle (unpressurized rover) to transport suited astronauts around the site; the habitable mobility platform (pressurized rover) that can enable long-duration trips away from Artemis Base Camp; and the foundation surface habitat that will accommodate four crew on the lunar surface and anchoring Artemis Base Camp and the U.S. presence at the South Pole. Together—along with supporting infrastructure such as communications, power, radiation shielding, and waste disposal and storage planning—these elements comprise a sustained capability on the Moon that can be revisited and built upon over the coming decades while also testing systems that will be required for human missions farther into the solar system. The additional infrastructure at the base camp will support one- to two-month expeditions on the surface to learn more about the Moon and the universe at large, and to develop new technologies that will advance our national industries while developing new resources that will help grow a new lunar economy. The Artemis Base Camp will demonstrate America’s continued leadership in space and prepare the agency to undertake humanity’s first mission to Mars.
NASA highlights that mobility is vital to the long-term exploration and development of the Moon. In addition to its size, the Moon’s geography is complex and its resources dispersed. Evaluating potential sites for Artemis Base Camp, such as near Shackleton Crater, reflects the immense scale of the lunar geography. Robust mobility systems will be needed to explore and develop the Moon and to explore Mars. The habitable mobility platform is a particularly important mission element as the first mission to Mars will use a similar type of spacecraft.
The agency also has plans for impressive infrastructure off the surface of the Moon as well. Gateway is intended to forge U.S. leadership and establish a presence in the region between the Moon and Earth with NASA’s international partners. The orbiting outpost also will offer a unique platform from which to conduct scientific investigations, with the potential to navigate to different orbits around the Moon. While Gateway is a much smaller and more focused platform than the International Space Station, NASA is taking the lessons learned from that experience to implement a lunar architecture in which multiple providers (of crew systems, propulsion, logistics, science platforms, technology demonstrators, etc.) can provide complementary capabilities that increase the overall success and resiliency of the lunar architecture. Early work to define a series of International Deep Space Interoperability Standards has formed the basis through which industry and international partners can “plug and play” into the deep space exploration architecture. NASA and the international community collaborated to define the standards with the goal of defining interfaces and environments to facilitate cooperative deep space exploration endeavors. These standards focus on topics prioritized in this early phase of exploration planning and are not intended to dictate design features beyond the interfaces. The standards include avionics, communication, environmental control and life support systems, power, rendezvous, robotics, thermal control, and software.
In the grand scheme of things, after Artemis III, NASA and its partners plan to embark on missions on and around the Moon that also will help prepare them for the types of mission durations and operations that we will experience on human missions to Mars. In this drive toward a more robust human lunar enterprise, NASA, U.S. industry, and its global partners will establish the infrastructure, systems, and robotic missions that can enable a sustained lunar surface presence. To do this, the agency will expand the Gateway’s capabilities, gain high confidence in commercial lunar landers departing from the Gateway, and establish the Artemis Base Camp at the South Pole of the Moon. One of the key ways NASA has been preparing for all this necessary infrastructure is with the help of the commercial market. No matter how big or small, we are currently watching the agency work with a large list of companies on different projects all helping return humans to the Moon.
As of right now, all major components required to lead a robust human return to the Moon are underway. NASA’s deep space transportation systems are in the final stages of testing before integration. The Artemis I and Artemis II flight tests will validate rocket and spacecraft performance and set America on a course to once again return astronauts to the Moon. NASA will also work with commercial partners to build landers and conduct risk-reducing tests in the lead-up to the landings on the Artemis III mission and beyond. NASA knows its charge is bold and to meet it, they must employ innovative development approaches. At every milestone, they will need to learn and improve their technical methods. The agency’s top priority is the safety of its people, not just the astronauts who they send on these missions, but also the thousands of workers on the ground who make it all possible.
Moon Resources
As NASA’s sustained presence grows at the Moon, opportunities to harvest lunar resources could lead to safer, more efficient operations with less dependence on supplies delivered from Earth. NASA has several current ISRU investments through partnerships with industry and academia. Prospecting, extraction, and mining initiatives are advancing their capabilities to find and harness resources from the lunar regolith. Chemical and thermal process developments may provide options to break down naturally occurring minerals and compounds found on the Moon and convert them to human consumables or even propellant. Other potential longer-term applications could lead to extraterrestrial metal processing and construction of habitats or other lunar surface structures using resources found on the Moon. Many of these technologies could be demonstrated and advanced on the Moon for future use at Mars. And while the Moon has no atmosphere, we know that the Mars atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide, so NASA is also investing in initiatives to focus on atmospheric extraction and conversion of CO2 to other useful elements or compounds.
Back in April 2020, the White House issued an Executive Order, “Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources,” addressing U.S. policy regarding the recovery and use of resources from the Moon and other celestial bodies. This Executive Order directs the Secretary of State to lead a U.S. Government effort to develop joint statements, bilateral agreements, and multilateral instruments with like-minded foreign states to enable safe and sustainable operations for the commercial recovery and use of space resources. NASA is supporting State Department efforts to advance the Executive Order by conducting a trailblazing purchase of an extraterrestrial resource. Specifically, NASA plans to purchase from one or more providers a sample of an extracted lunar resource for a nominal dollar value. The sample will be delivered in place on the lunar surface for retrieval by NASA at a later date. This process will establish a critical precedent that lunar resources can be extracted and purchased from the private sector in compliance with Article II and other provisions of the Outer Space Treaty.
Conclusion
While it has been a very long time since humans were last on the Moon, this is set to change not long from now. NASA is working to not only return humans to the surface but set up a more permanent presence. This requires an immense amount of preparation, work on infrastructure, and help from the commercial industry in many different ways. While ambitious, the agency is making good progress as we get closer to some of the launch dates. We will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry.