Mars may be a hellhole, but the moon is not far behind
Mars may be a hellhole, but the moon is not far behind
摘要: Space
Mars may be a hellhole, but the moon is not far behind
We’re still imagining building cities on the moon. There are just a few obstacles in th
正文
Mars may be a hellhole, but the moon is not far behind
We’re still imagining building cities on the moon. There are just a few obstacles in the way.
Selman Design
Robin George Andrews
archive page
October 12, 2026
Welcome to the second space race. You can be forgiven for experiencing déjà vu. Last time, it was the Soviet Union and the United States vying to be the first to plant some flags. Now it’s a sprint to the lunar surface between America and China—alongside a host of varyingly friendly and rival nations—plus a cornucopia of private spaceflight companies. And this time it looks like they’re getting ready to set up camp. There will be, the contenders say, bases on the moon, permanently inhabited castles under the stars.
The notion of a moon base, fanciful as it might sound, isn’t new. But this year, under the leadership of Administrator Jared Isaacman, NASA has been flooding the zone with
bold announcements
. If all goes according to plan—a plan that will likely cost tens of billions of dollars to start—there will be
, robotic landers,
communication satellites
nuclear power plant
; there will be plant terrariums and moonquake sensors; there will be mechanized scouts exploring craters for water.
Initial astronaut missions to the lunar surface, which the US is currently planning to start in 2028, will be focused on exploration and technological experimentation. But the idea is that we will—some time in the 2030s—get to a point where there will be habitation quarters for long-term stays, surrounded by a network of scientific research stations, resource mining and processing plants, and landing pads for spaceships. “It’s going to be an expanse,” says Carlos García-Galán, NASA’s moon base program manager—one that will add up to “hundreds of square miles.”
The effort is undoubtedly being fueled by nationalistic competition. China has near-identical plans to build its own base on the moon. And being first matters, because the