NASA plans to explore the moon for water and supplies

We recently posted news here about NASA's intention to establish a space base located on the moon's hidden face, and the VERGE website got more details about this new mission that the US space agency is due to officially announce soon.

According to the publication, NASA intends to send a robotic space probe to the moon in 2017 to search the satellite for water and other resources needed for longer space travel. In addition, the lunar station will not be built on the surface, but rather in a region known as Lagrange Point 2 or EML-2 (check out the image that opens this story), thus orbiting the moon's hidden face .

Base in orbit

The choice of L2 is due to the fact that gravitational forces are in relative equilibrium in this region, allowing an object to remain in a stationary orbit with respect to both Earth and Moon. Thus, theoretically the base could be used as an intermediate point for replenishment. before launching missions to more distant locations - such as Mars or nearby asteroids, for example - making the cost of space travel cheaper.

According to the publication, the search for resources on the moon's surface may include the participation of private companies, and the construction of the base may reuse equipment and materials from the International Space Station. The official announcement of NASA's plans has been postponed due to the presidential elections that took place in the US, and everything seems to indicate that the robotic spacecraft will be sent to the moon by 2017.