This is a drawing of what the lunar outpost might look like with robotic rovers and lunar habitats.

It was 36 years ago, in 1972, when Apollo astronauts left their last boot prints in the lunar dust.

Now NASA is working on new technologies to get us back to the Moon and, maybe someday, on to Mars.

Why do we need new technologies when we've already done it before? Well, much has changed. Today's technologies and materials are smarter, stronger, lighter, and cheaper than ever before. In a few years, we will be able to go to the Moon more safely and with far more capability than during the Apollo Program. And this time, the astronauts will get to stay a while.

The Moon is a lousy vacation spot, though. For one thing, there is no air. None. If the astronauts want any to breathe, they will have to bring their own. Also, with no air, they will always have to be in a pressurized spacesuit or habitat. Otherwise the vacuum of space will mean instant death.

During the lunar day, the temperature gets hot enough to roast a turkey. And at night, it's cold enough to freeze the oxygen right out of the atmosphere--if there were any! And with no atmosphere, there is nothing to protect the astronauts from the Sun's killer radiation or the constant rain of tiny space rocks hitting the Moon.

But, thanks to NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program, the new lunar astronauts will have all they need to survive in comfort for months. They will have tools and materials to build a whole lunar outpost. They will have a comfortable, inflatable home. They will have a vehicle to drive around and explore the lunar surface. They will have light, protective, and comfortable spacesuits for their "extra-vehicular activities."

Make believe you are a new Moon explorer and build your own lunar habitat from newspaper logs. Check it out at spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/exploration/habitat.

This article was written by Diane K. Fisher. It was provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

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