America is going back to the moon! NASA to team up with nine firms to create lunar base

NASA has revealed plans to take America back to the moon - but will rely on private firms to run the missions. The space agency plans to work with nine private firms, ranging from small startups to giants like Lockheed Martin, to develop robotic landers and systems to mine the natural resources on the moon. This will help develop the technology need for eventual manned missions, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine pledged to have a manned lunar base within a decade. The first new lunar missions could blast off as early next year. The new missions will see the US return to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in December 1972, the final mission of the crewed lunar exploration program (pictured, Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon).