NASA’s permanent Moon base plans start with three missions this year
NASA’s permanent Moon base plans start with three missions this year
NASA 永久月球基地计划今年启动三项任务
On Tuesday, NASA announced several upcoming lunar missions to the Moon’s South Pole region. These missions will pave the way for the crewed Artemis landing slated for 2028, starting with three Moon Base missions NASA says are “the first of more than a dozen missions that will be announced this year.”
周二，NASA 宣布了多项即将前往月球南极地区的探测任务。这些任务将为计划于 2028 年进行的“阿尔忒弥斯”（Artemis）载人登月任务铺平道路，其中包括三项“月球基地”（Moon Base）任务。NASA 表示，这三项任务是“今年将宣布的十几项任务中的首批”。
Moon Base I, launching “no earlier than fall 2026,” will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander to bring NASA payloads to the Moon, including the Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies instrument and the Laser Retroreflective Array. NASA will use these “to study how thrusters interact with the Moon’s surface” and help “orbiting spacecraft determine a more precise location using reflected laser light.”
“月球基地 I 号”任务将于“不早于 2026 年秋季”发射，将使用蓝色起源（Blue Origin）的“蓝月 Mark 1 耐力号”（Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance）着陆器将 NASA 的载荷送往月球，其中包括“月球羽流-表面研究立体相机”和“激光反射阵列”。NASA 将利用这些设备“研究推进器如何与月球表面相互作用”，并帮助“轨道航天器利用反射激光确定更精确的位置”。
Moon Base II, launching “later this year,” will “deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, including Astrolab’s FLIP rover,” helping to “inform future lunar terrain vehicle, or LTV, operations.” LTVs include the new rovers astronauts will use on the Moon.
“月球基地 II 号”任务将于“今年晚些时候”发射，将通过 Astrobotic 公司的“狮鹫”（Griffin）着陆器运送超过 1100 磅的货物，其中包括 Astrolab 公司的 FLIP 漫游车，旨在为“未来的月球地形车（LTV）运行提供参考”。LTV 包括宇航员在月球上使用的新型漫游车。
Moon Base III, “also targeted for this year,” will take a few payloads to the Moon for NASA, as well as the ESA and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. The main payload is Lunar Vertex, which will “fly on Intuitive Machine’s Nova-C Trinity lunar lander and study lunar swirls, or light spots on the surface of the Moon, to improve understanding of surface evolution and material behavior under extreme conditions.”
“月球基地 III 号”任务也“定于今年进行”，将为 NASA 以及欧洲航天局（ESA）和韩国天文与空间科学研究所运送部分载荷。其主要载荷是“月球顶点”（Lunar Vertex），它将搭载在直觉机器公司（Intuitive Machines）的“Nova-C 三位一体号”月球着陆器上，研究月球漩涡（即月球表面的光斑），以加深对极端条件下月球表面演化和材料特性的理解。
In addition to the Moon Base missions, NASA shared a few other mission updates: NASA awarded $219 million to Astrolab and $220 million to Lunar Outpost to make two new Moon rovers. It also awarded $188 million to Blue Origin to deliver the rovers to the Moon. Astrolab’s Crewed Lunar Vehicle, or CLV-1, is a “crewed rover designed to transport astronauts, carry supplies, and support remote operations.” Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover “is a lighter, mission‑ready evolution of its Eagle rover” that supports manual, autonomous, and remote driving.
除了“月球基地”任务外，NASA 还分享了其他几项任务进展：NASA 向 Astrolab 公司拨款 2.19 亿美元，向 Lunar Outpost 公司拨款 2.2 亿美元，用于制造两款新型月球漫游车。此外，NASA 还向蓝色起源公司拨款 1.88 亿美元，负责将这些漫游车送往月球。Astrolab 的“载人月球车”（CLV-1）是一款“旨在运送宇航员、携带补给并支持远程操作的载人漫游车”。Lunar Outpost 的“飞马”（Pegasus）漫游车则是其“鹰”（Eagle）号漫游车的轻量化、任务就绪型升级版，支持手动、自动和远程驾驶。
NASA says Astrolab and Lunar Outpost will “finalize rover designs, conduct crewed evaluations, and qualify flight units for operational readiness” over the next 18 months. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has selected Firefly Aerospace to make the spacecraft that will take its four MoonFall drones to the Moon, with launch planned for 2028. After landing on the Moon, the drones will “gather high-resolution imagery of hard-to-reach terrain over the course of a single lunar day” and operate a “survive-the-night payload” for several months afterward.
NASA 表示，Astrolab 和 Lunar Outpost 将在未来 18 个月内“最终确定漫游车设计、进行载人评估，并使飞行单元达到运行就绪状态”。NASA 喷气推进实验室（JPL）已选择 Firefly Aerospace 公司制造航天器，用于将四架“月球坠落”（MoonFall）无人机送往月球，发射计划定于 2028 年。在月球着陆后，这些无人机将在“一个昼夜周期内收集难以到达地形的高分辨率图像”，并在随后的几个月内运行“度过黑夜载荷”。