Nasa has detailed a series of lunar rovers, drones and equipment that it plans to send to the Moon as part of plans for a crewed landing and eventual Moon base.
The agency also outlined plans to send the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) instrument to the Moon later this year. This will study how rocket exhaust displaces lunar soil during a spacecraft’s descent and landing. As the Artemis programme shifts to launching larger, heavier payloads and building sustained structures at the lunar south pole, engineers must predict how thruster plumes interact with the ground prior to the manned landing that will take place in 2028.
In addition to SCALPSS, Nasa plans to deploy an instrument called the Laser Retroreflective Array, which helps orbiting spacecraft determine a more precise location using reflected laser light. Both are expected to be installed using Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander later in 2026 as part of the Moon Base 1 mission.
Moon Base II, also planned...