![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2G4IK5YUEFKFZNDKVGCEA5A6OA.jpg\")
The proposed lunar outpost would provide a continual human presence on the moon (Nasa) (Nasa\/PA) <\/p>\nNasa chiefs are \u201cgiving a lot of thought\u201d to meteor strikes on the lunar surface in ambitious plans to develop a base on the Moon.<\/p>\n
Space agency boss Jared Isaacman has said there were going to be potentially hazardous environmental factors that needed to be taken into account in establishing an outpost.<\/p>\n
He made his comments after it was revealed, last month, that a comet or asteroid the size of a building up to six-storeys high had crashed into the moon\u2019s surface back in 2024.<\/p>\n
The impact left a crater about 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep.<\/p>\n
The proposed lunar outpost would provide a continual human presence on the moon (Nasa) (Nasa\/PA) <\/p>\n
Scientists have described the magnitude of the collision as a \u201conce-in-a-lifetime\u201d incident, which occurred around every century.<\/p>\n
During the Artemis II space mission, earlier this year, around the far side of the Moon, the astronauts aboard observed several flashes as small space rocks, known as meteoroids, slammed directly into the lunar surface at high speeds without an atmosphere to burn them up.<\/p>\n
Nasa plans to land people back on the natural satellite in 2028, with a view to having a Moon base up and running by 2032, providing a continual human presence with routine crew rotations.<\/p>\n
The pioneering project aims to develop the technologies needed for future deep space voyages, including to Mars.<\/p>\n
Nasa is scheduled to launch the Artemis III mission next year.<\/p>\n
Four crew members will test low Earth orbit docking procedures between the Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers, developed by Jeff Bezos\u2019s Blue Origin and Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX.<\/p>\n
Mr Isaacman was asked about the implications of the recently discovered asteroid strike on the far-reaching plans for a Moon base during a briefing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, on Friday.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cFortunately, that\u2019s a once-in-a-century type of an event, so we\u2019re fortunate in that regard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there are much smaller meteor strikes that will happen on the lunar surface with greater frequency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got some additional data from that from the great crew of Artemis II and some of the observations they relayed back during their mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we are giving a lot of thought to that for the Moon base.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Isaacman pointed out a fleet of lunar rovers would be used to scout and map the Moon\u2019s surface and inform the development of the outpost.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to learn and we\u2019re going to gradually scale up capabilities because I guarantee you we\u2019re going to need surface improvement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s why we\u2019re not locking in the design for habitation modules today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re doing our science of survival, lots of uncrewed robotic landers, lots of demos, see what we like to build up to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause yes, there are going to be environmental factors we\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Isaacman also said he was impressed at the progress being made by the Blue Origin team, after its rocket dramatically exploded on the launchpad.<\/p>\n
The spaceflight company has a key role to play from the outset in the Moon base plans.<\/p>\n
The development relies in large part on the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, which detonated during an engine-firing test at the end of May.<\/p>\n
Mr Isaacman said: \u201cI think they\u2019ve been very open about targeting the end of the year\u2026 they are moving with purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, whether they hit December or they wind up in January, they\u2019re breaking everyone\u2019s records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressed over whether he would \u201cput money\u201d on landing astronauts on the Moon in 2028, Mr Isaac said: \u201cWe are putting taxpayer money on it, but we are doing so in the most efficient, responsible way we possibly can in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that \u201ca monumental effort is ahead\u201d and added: \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThis is an achievable path we are on right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the mandate, we have the resources, the support from our stakeholders to be able to execute, and that\u2019s what we intend to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nasa chiefs are \u201cgiving a lot of thought\u201d to meteor strikes on the lunar surface in ambitious plans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[107033,130950,8971,61,60,47251,280936,6185,74634,91,82,1337,2306,1577],"class_list":["post-663563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-artemis-ii","tag-artemis-iii","tag-blue-origin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jared-isaacman","tag-kennedy-space-centre","tag-moon","tag-moon-base","tag-nasa","tag-science","tag-space-exploration","tag-spacex","tag-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}