NASA details moon base plans, pauses lunar orbit idea

America’s next moonshot is to put a man on the moon to stay, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a Tuesday news conference. In a letter posted to social media before the NASA event, Isaacman said the goal of the Artemis space missions is to return mankind to the moon by 2028, and lay the groundwork for a lunar colony in the coming years.

NASA has delayed launching the Artemis missions to the moon several times in the last few years, but Isaacman promised to get the project back on track and step up its objectives. Artemis II is scheduled to launch as the first crewed mission in early April.

The United States’ new space race is with China, Isaacman told guests at the Tuesday event. He said that years of inefficiency at NASA and bureaucratic delays could make the United States late in the game unless things change quickly. NASA will take steps toward a lunar base through more frequent moon landings and technology partnerships with other nations and private companies, he said. Research on the moon would be geared towards eventually sending astronauts to Mars.

Why now? Isaacman, an entrepreneur and commercial astronaut, took the helm at NASA in December, one year after President Trump tapped him for the job. Trump withdrew the nomination in May after falling out with special adviser and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who had recommended Isaacman for the NASA role. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy temporarily oversaw the agency until the president restored Isaacman’s nomination and the Senate voted on him.

Musk last month said his personal focus was now a moon colony, instead of his longtime goal of settling Mars.

Dig deeper: Listen to Lindsay Mast’s conversation with U.S. astronaut and author Captain Barry “Butch” Wilmore.