NASA selects three lunar investigations for the Moon Base program: hazards, a cave probe and ice mapping

NASA/Artemis Lunar Surface Base

NASA chose three investigations to support its Moon Base program, to be delivered to the lunar surface through its CLPS commercial lander initiative. They cover monitoring hazards at the lunar south pole, probing the underground passage beneath the Marius Hills Pit, and measuring ice in very cold spots on the surface. No launch vehicle or date has been given.

• LEMS-SP (led by Mehdi Benna at UMBC) is an autonomous station that detects moonquakes and micrometeoroid impacts and measures gases in the thin lunar atmosphere.
• GIMLI (led by Nathaniel Putzig at the Planetary Science Institute) uses geophysical measurements to test whether the Marius Hills Pit links to a larger lava tube.
• GIMLI also asks whether underground space could shield astronauts from temperature swings, radiation and micrometeoroids.
• DISCO (led by Ariel Deutsch at NASA Ames) aims for the first direct measurements of ice in micro-cold traps and studies how rocket exhaust blows dust during landing.