Surface Exploration

NASA is developing lunar surface infrastructure technologies to enable long‑duration exploration and science missions for the Moon Base at the lunar South Pole with Artemis. To sustain a long‑term presence, the agency is building systems for abundant power and energy storage, extraction of local resources that could be turned into drinkable water and oxygen, construction of landing pads and berms, and mitigation of abrasive lunar dust from critical systems.

These technologies are being matured on Earth, in simulated lunar gravity, and on the Moon. Demonstrations in 2025 included the Electrodynamic Dust Shield removing regolith during Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, a 4G/LTE lunar communications system powering up and sending data from the surface, and multiple commercial payloads flown as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.

nasa, artemis, lunar, moon base, south pole, energy storage, resource extraction, water, oxygen, lunar dust