Nuclear Mars Rover Will Conquer Deadly Nights At NASA Moon Base
NASA laid out its next moves for its Moon Base program, and the biggest reveal wasn't just new lander contracts. It was the possibility that a nuclear-powered rover built from Mars hardware could end up parked at the lunar South Pole, a region so brutal that previous coverage has detailed NASA's ongoing struggle with lighting and terrain problems ahead of the Artemis III crewed landing.
Administrator Jared Isaacman and Moon Base program manager Carlos García-Galán announced that Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machineswill split nearly $600 million to deliver four new missions to the Moon in late 2028. Astrobotic picked up $297.9 million for two deliveries, while Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines received $144.2 million and $148.3 million, respectively, for one delivery apiece. These awards push NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative to 17 lunar surface deliveries across multiple providers, the backbone of its push toward a permanent lunar...
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