NASA chief Jared Isaacman has acknowledged that the agency is giving "a lot of thought" to meteor strikes on the lunar surface as part of its ambitious plans to establish a base on the Moon. He noted that there are potentially dangerous environmental hazards that must be considered when setting up an outpost on the lunar surface.
Recent Impact Highlights Risks
His remarks followed last month's revelation that a comet or asteroid the size of a building up to six storeys high had crashed into the Moon's surface back in 2024. The collision left a crater approximately 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep. Scientists have described the scale of the impact as a "once-in-a-lifetime" event, occurring roughly once every century.
During the Artemis II space mission earlier this year, as it travelled around the far side of the Moon, astronauts on board witnessed several flashes as small space rocks, known as meteoroids, hurtled directly into the lunar surface at tremendous speeds, with no atmosphere to incinerate them.
Plans for Lunar Base
NASA intends to return humans to Earth's natural satellite in 2028, with the goal of having a fully operational Moon base by 2032, maintaining a permanent human presence through regular crew rotations. The groundbreaking project seeks to advance the technologies required for future deep space exploration, including missions to Mars.
NASA is due to launch the Artemis III mission next year. Four crew members will put low Earth orbit docking procedures to the test between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers, developed by Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Isaacman's Remarks
Mr Isaacman was quizzed about the ramifications of the newly identified asteroid strike on the ambitious plans for a Moon base during a briefing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, on Friday. He said: "Fortunately, that's a once-in-a-century type of an event, so we're fortunate in that regard."
"But there are much smaller meteor strikes that will happen on the lunar surface with greater frequency. We got some additional data from that from the great crew of Artemis II and some of the observations they relayed back during their mission. So, we are giving a lot of thought to that for the Moon base."
Mr Isaacman highlighted that a fleet of lunar rovers would be deployed to scout and chart the Moon's surface, helping to shape the development of the outpost. He said: "We're going to learn and we're going to gradually scale up capabilities because I guarantee you we're going to need surface improvement."
"It's why we're not locking in the design for habitation modules today. We're doing our science of survival, lots of uncrewed robotic landers, lots of demos, see what we like to build up to it. Because yes, there are going to be environmental factors we're going to need to consider that could be hazardous and be able to address them. And we will do it in a logical, iterative way to get to the right outcome."
Mr Isaacman also expressed admiration for the strides being made by the Blue Origin team, following its rocket's dramatic explosion on the launchpad. The spaceflight firm has a crucial part to play from the very beginning in the lunar base proposals. The project depends substantially on the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, which detonated during an engine-firing test at the end of May.
Mr Isaacman said: "I think they've been very open about targeting the end of the year... they are moving with purpose. So, whether they hit December or they wind up in January, they're breaking everyone's records."
When challenged over whether he would "put money" on placing astronauts on the Moon in 2028, Mr Isaacman responded: "We are putting taxpayer money on it, but we are doing so in the most efficient, responsible way we possibly can in that regard."
He conceded that "a monumental effort is ahead" before adding: "We are very eyes wide open to what needs to be done, and what needs to be done is to get ready to launch Artemis III. And, in parallel, we need to launch a lot of Moon-based missions." He further stated: "This is an achievable path we are on right now. We have the mandate, we have the resources, the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that's what we intend to do."
