nasa plans permanent moon base

NASA Plans Permanent Moon Base

Last week, NASA announced plans to develop a permanent manned base on

the moon, both for scientific purposes and to serve as a launch point

for possible manned missions to Mars. Construction will likely begin

in 2020, the date that President Bush has targeted for a return of

humans to the moon.

The lunar base will be most likely built at one of the moon's poles to

take advantage of relatively stable temperatures and steady sunlight

for solar power. The project will be funded with money budgeted for

the space shuttle after the shuttle program is phased out in 2010, and

may be an international effort (particularly since the European Space

Agency is considering unmanned lunar landers).

Last August, NASA awarded Lockheed Martin the contract for developing

the rocket and lander system that will take astronauts to the moon for

the first time since 1972. Further details, including a base design

and a precise timetable, have yet to be developed.

But beyond serving as a way station for a Mars mission, what