Kathrine Frich
He want’s to see Americans back on the lunar surface before the end of the president’s current term
Humanity has always looked up at the night sky and dreamed of visiting the stars.
For decades, those trips were brief and temporary.
Now, the way we explore our solar system is about to change forever.
A permanent home
The US government just unveiled a massive plan to build a continuous human settlement in space. Under President Donald Trump, officials want astronauts to live and work away from Earth for months. This is no longer science fiction.
Taking to the social media platform X, officials made their ultimate goal clear. The White House posted that “America will establish a permanent presence on the moon.”
To make this happen, NASA is teaming up with the US Department of Energy, according to the Express. They plan to build a nuclear fission system called Lunar Reactor-1. This is crucial. Without it, crews could not survive the freezing, dark weeks at the South Pole.
Building the outpost
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman wants to see Americans back on the lunar surface before the end of the president’s current term. The full project rolls out in three distinct stages over the next decade.
First, engineers will send robotic equipment to test the harsh environment. The second phase brings semi-habitable structures to the dusty surface, setting up a vital supply chain.
The final stage kicks off in 2032. International partners will join the effort, sending heavy equipment like an Italian habitat module and a Canadian utility vehicle to build a true base.
Stepping stone to Mars
Living at the lunar South Pole will not be easy. Temperatures drop to minus 334 degrees Fahrenheit and climb up to 130 degrees. Scientists hope to mine local soil for building materials and extract water from deep ice craters.
Eventually, NASA expects crews to stay for 30 days straight, before shifting to six-month rotations. But the moon is only the first stop.
NASA program manager Carlos García-Galán told the Express that the agency envisions an unbroken chain of human explorers. “Our goal is to set up the infrastructure to enable humans to be operating on the surface of the moon on a permanent basis, and not give it up,” he said.
He noted that learning to survive out there prepares us for deeper space travel. “We want to set up an infrastructure that enables sustained human presence, so we can keep exploring, learning, and then take the next step to Mars,” García-Galán explained.
