A NASA moon space station is planned for within 10 years, giving astronauts a way to live in the moon’s orbit and land frequently on its surface.
The space station would be a small one, but would help scientists discover how to use the moon’s resources and may pave the way for commercial expedition to the moon and tourist trips there, according to CNET.
Moon Express will begin landing small robotic ships with scientific instruments to the moon as soon as 2019 in partnership with NASA, USA Today reported. The private company is trying to lower the cost of lunar missions with robots.
“It’s a different paradigm, to have economics introduced to exploration science,” CEO of Moon Epress Bob Richards said, USA Today reported. “It has to be part of a growing, continuing expansion of the human economic and social sphere to the moon, then to Mars, and eventually to the stars.”
More private companies also are exploring how to send expeditions to the moon; Jeff Bezos set forth a plan in May to set up a moon base whether NASA is involved or not.
NASA is hopeful that public-private partnerships will help the technology advance faster and at a lower cost than the government agency could accomplish on its own. Partnerships with SpaceX and Northrop Grumman have allowed the International Space Station to be resupplied better, and SpaceX and Boeing are aiming to fly astronauts to the ISS in low Earth orbit within a year.
Friday will mark 40 years since the Apollo 11 landed on the moon for the first time.
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