China · U.S. · MIT Technology Review
Astronauts survive fine too, with their fancy spacesuits—but that technology has proved itself only during brief excursions
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The temperature in the moon’s south pole craters can be lower than –410 °F, making them some of the coldest places in the known universe.
Key facts
- In general, daytime temperatures can reach more than 250 °F; at night, they can plummet to less than –200 °F
- It’s almost like starting civilization from scratch,” says Simon Middleburgh, co-director of the Nuclear Futures Institute at Bangor University in Wales
- Build habitat modules underground,” says Chris Dreyer, director of engineering at the Center for Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines
- 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
Summary
Welcome to the second space race. Last time, it was the Soviet Union and the United States vying to be the first to plant some flags. The notion of a moon base, fanciful as it might sound, isn’t new. 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. The effort is undoubtedly being fueled by nationalistic competition. China has near-identical plans to build its own base on the moon. But there are also other reasons to go. The far side of the moon would be “a fantastic place to explore the further universe,” says Josef Aschbacher, the European Space Agency’s director general.