9News reports that NASA has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to four U.S. companies for the first phase of its moon base plans, including landers, lunar terrain vehicles, and drones. Blue Origin will provide landers, Astrolab and Lunar Outpost will build moon buggies, and Firefly Aerospace will deliver the first drones to the lunar surface. Finally, a story that makes America look up instead of doomscroll sideways.
The plan is tied to Artemis, with hardware ideally arriving before astronauts return to the lunar surface, possibly as early as 2028. NASA’s second phase, running from 2029 into the early 2030s, would build permanent infrastructure like a power grid, with longer-term habitats expected sometime in the 2030s. The goal is not just a flag and footprints sequel. It is a lunar economy, scientific research, and laying the groundwork for Mars.
The Bullet Point Brief
- NASA is ordering moon buggies and drones. That sentence alone is worth including in The Scott Sheet. Sometimes the future still has a pulse.
- Artemis II recently flew astronauts around the moon, and Artemis III is expected to practice docking before a later crewed lunar landing. Translation: we are not just talking about space. We are packing.
- Blue Origin, Astrolab, Lunar Outpost, and Firefly Aerospace all have roles in the first phase. Private enterprise plus national ambition. Imagine that.
- NASA wants a moon base near the south pole, eventually with power infrastructure, vehicles, drones, and permanent habitats. Somewhere, every kid who ever built a LEGO spaceship just sat up straighter.
- The long game is Mars. The moon is the proving ground. That is how big things get done: one impossible step at a time.
My Bottom Line
I am including this story because I am a space nerd, and gosh-darnit, this is just cool.
It is about time we explore again. It is about time we remember that America is capable of doing astonishing things when we decide to build instead of bicker, launch instead of lecture, and dream instead of constantly inventorying our national flaws like a committee of professional wet blankets.
There is something deeply healthy about a nation looking up. We spend so much time highlighting our worst, amplifying our dumbest fights, and rewarding the loudest cynics that it is easy to forget we still have engineers, pilots, welders, scientists, machinists, programmers, and builders who can make moon drones happen.
So yes, more of this. More ambition. More wonder. More “how do we get there?” and less “why bother?” The moon is calling again. To the moon and beyond.
Source: 9News
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