Moon Settlements

On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 26, 2026, NASA will host a press conference on US plans for a moon base. If those plans do not include underground components, I would not be surprised to see internet wagering begin on the survival odds for any humans expected to live and survive in moon colonies. Make that ditto for Mars or other parts of our solar system. NASA link:

https://www.nasa.gov/live/

They went live on this press conference a few minutes ago (11:30 AM PDT) … right now they are discussing the use of flying drones on the Moon.

>1 MaureenRoy:
Your posts are always fascinating and appreciated, but is NASA going crazy with drones on the moon!?

Did someone say "moon base"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3o-3pL79O4

>1 MaureenRoy:, >2 wcarter: They’re not really drones, they’re hoppers. They use a big thrust to launch and travel mostly ballistically to a new landing. Mostly ballistic, because they have the ability to adjust somewhat in flight.

>4 drneutron: Thank you very much for that clarification on “drones." News reporting comments on any government science plans are almost always suspect because US TV networks got rid of most of their science reporters long ago, ditto the US newspapers.

According to Merriam-Webster:

A drone, formally known as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) or Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), is any aircraft that operates without a human pilot onboard. They are guided either autonomously by onboard computers and pre-programmed software or remotely by a human operator
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It doesn't say anything about using propellors or wings.

>3 davidgn:
That is one of my favourite video clips. Just perfect.

NASA’s new lunar rover designs announced. At least they added roll bars. But what about seatbelts? I hope those astronaut helmets are shatterproof:

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-provides-update-on-moon-base-rovers-lande...

Note to lunar pioneers ——> don’t step on the robots:

https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/meet-lev-2-baseball-sized-191300313.html

NASA live press conference on Tuesday, June 20, 2026:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/space/2026/06/30/nasa-artemis-moon-base-upda...

News summary on yesterday’s live press conference:

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-more-moon-base-science-previews-ne...

This explains to me why the Artemis III crew is all men:

https://hothardware.com/news/nuclear-mars-rover-conquer-nights-nasa-moon-base

In Earth's international radiation “safety” standards first established 100 years ago, the standard model for human radiation resistance is an adult male, presumably because females of any age are far more vulnerable to ionizing radiation than males.

The expected rocket impact will be watched on video, but they don’t say if there will be an audio record as well. Both will be important. Link:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-spacex-rocket-is-about-to-crash-int...