Nasa: We’ll live on moon this decade

Humans could stay on the moon for lengthy periods during this decade, a Nasa official has claimed.

Howard Hu, who leads the Orion lunar spacecraft programme, said scientists will need to live there while carrying out experiments.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, which is broadcast today, that Wednesday’s launch of the Artemis rocket, which carries Orion, was a “historic day for human space flight”.

A major reason for going back to the moon is to discover whether there is water at its south pole, which could be converted into fuel to send rockets even deeper into space.

He said: “We’re going to be sending people down to the surface and they are going to be living on that surface and doing science.”

The current mission is unmanned but, if successful, the next will be crewed.

The third aims to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in 50 years following Apollo 17’s flight in December 1972.

Hu added: “I think this is a historic day for Nasa but it’s also a historic day for all the people who love human space flight and deep space exploration.”