We Could Be Living And Working on The Moon by 2030, Says NASA

A NASA official has said that humans will live and work on the moon by the year 2030.

"We're going to be sending people down to the surface and they're going to be living on that surface and doing science," said Howard Hu, who leads the Orion lunar spacecraft program for NASA, according to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

NASA successfully launched its powerful new Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket last week, sending the Orion spacecraft on its way towards the moon.

The launch, which had been repeatedly delayed, set NASA's Artemis missions in motion, the first major step towards putting humans back on the Moon.

In order to test its ability to bring a capsule to the moon and back, it is uncrewed. Next time, it's expected to take astronauts with it.

For the first time in 42 years, humans could be on the Moon's surface if all goes well.

The current plan is for the crew to land near the south pole, where they will look for signs of water for a week. It could be used to fuel rockets on their way to Mars.

It would be necessary to build settlements to support mining and scientific activities.

Hu said that it was the first step in long-term deep space exploration.

The moon was due to be in the sky at 7:44 am. NASA has live coverage here.

The original article was published by Business Insider.