The timeframe for NASA's return to the moon is in question, but when it does, it will have to decide what it wants its astronauts to cruise around the lunar surface in. Northrop Grumman announced on Tuesday that it is designing a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to transport the agency's Artemis astronauts around the moon. It is teaming with several different companies, including AVL, tiremaker Michelin, Lunar Outpost and Intuitive Machines to design the rover. The announcement comes just hours after a government watchdog said NASA will miss its target for landing humans on the moon in late 2024 by'several years.' Northrop Grumman announced on Tuesday that it is designing a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to transport the agency's Artemis astronauts around the moon A report from NASA's inspector general said cost overruns and the time needed to proper testing were the likely reasons NASA would miss the target date to return to the moon.

NASA has selected a landing site for its golf cart-sized VIPER rover, which is set to land on the Moon in 2023 in search of traces of water. The robotic vehicle will land near the western edge of the Nobile Crater, a 45-mile-wide impact crater at the Moon's south pole, the space agency announced. NASA said the terrain in the Nobile region is'most suitable for the VIPER rover to navigate, communicate, and characterise potential water and other resources'. Nobile Crater was formed through a collision with another smaller celestial body, and is almost permanently covered in shadows, allowing ice to exist there. The Moon's south pole is one of the coldest areas in our Solar System and no prior missions to the Moon's surface have explored it.

As NASA attempts to return to the moon in 2024, the U.S. space agency has tasked Lockheed Martin and General Motors to create a new electric, autonomous lunar rover. The rover will use GM's autonomous driving technology and allow it to go'significantly farther' than the ones the auto maker worked on during the Apollo program, some 50 years ago. Though the rover is still in the planning stages, both companies highlighted that it is imperative it allows astronauts to traverse difficult terrains of the lunar south pole, which could hold a number of interesting discoveries, including water. A concept of what the Lockheed Martin-GM rover might look like on the moon's south pole The lunar south pole is a site of interest for scientists and agencies planning crewed missions to the Moon. This is because water ice has been found in shadowed areas in that region with craters that never get sunlight.

On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivered a 46-minute speech that included historical context of the Cold War and how the US planned to triumph over the Soviets, but what won the hearts of the American people was his plan to send humans to the moon. 'Space is open to us now; and our eagerness to share its meaning is not governed by the efforts of others. We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share...,' the late president said while standing behind the lectern during a joint session of Congress. 'First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.' The US had not even sent a human into orbit at the time of the speech, which placed it far behind the Soviets who had sent an astronaut to space a month before Kennedy addressed the nation.

As NASA gears up to send humans to the moon and Mars it is also working on new advances to protect the space terrains from human germs. The American space agency released updates to its Planetary Protection Policies that provide new requirements for both astronaut and robotic missions. The added policies note that no biological matter is left on or around the moon, along with humans are to not contaminate any part of Mars with biological materials or return to Earth with germs from the Red Planet. The first woman and next man are set to head to the moon in 2024 and the first crewed mission to Mars is planned for the 2030s – and as early as 2035. The added policies note that no biological matter is left on or around the moon.

NASA has released a detailed plan for an'Artemis Base Camp' that will be home to first woman and next man on the moon in 2024. The 13-page document highlights elements such as a terrain vehicle for transporting the astronauts around the landing zone, a permanent habit and a mobility platform to travel across the lunar surface. The plans suggest a crew of four astronauts would call the moon home for a week at a time, but also describes accommodations with water, waste disposal systems and radiation shields if their time is extended. The Artemis mission will use the moon as its stepping stone, allowing the crew to test robots and other technologies before exploring farther into the solar system, with Mars being their next stop. NASA has released a detailed plan for an'Artemis Base Camp' that will be home to first woman and next man on the moon in 2024.

It has been more than two years in the making, but 13 new astronauts have finally joined NASA under the mission that will bring the first female to the moon -and some may be the first humans to step on Mars. The candidates, who have been training since 2017, participated in the first public graduation ceremony for astronauts on Friday at the American space Agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The group includes six women and seven men, two of them were Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronauts, and all were chosen from record-setting pool of more than 18,000 applicants. During the ceremony, each of the bright-eyed graduates were given a silver pin that symbolizes the Mercury 7 – NASA's first astronaut group that was selected in 1959. They will then be awarded a gold pin once they completed their first spaceflights.

New technology is giving astronauts exploring distant worlds a helping hand. Scientists from NASA and the SETI Institute have developed a'smart glove' that lets astronauts control robots, specifically drones, through one-handed gestures. The innovation uses a micro-controller to read an array of sensors that capture even the smallest motion of the fingers and hands. The glove coincides with NASA's latest spacesuit design that aims to add more comfort and efficiency for astronauts as they explore the moon and Mars. Scientists from NASA and the SETI Institute have developed a'smart glove' that lets astronauts control robots, specifically drones, through one-handed gestures The smart glove is a prototype for a human-machine interface (HuMI) that would allow astronauts to wirelessly operate a wide array of robotic assets, including drones, via simple single-hand gestures.

The astronauts set for the Artemis mission to the moon will put on suits that may look like today's gear, but will be redesigned with new technology to accomplish more complex tasks. The new space suits are set to allow for better mobility, allowing them to lift their arms and objects over their head and flexibility at the hips and knees, for smoother travel over the lunar surface. NASA also plans to take full-body, 3D scans of each astronaut to provide them with the most comfort and broadest range of motion. A famous video of Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, floating around the web that shows the American astronaut bunny hopping across the lunar surface – and this is one of the issues NASA hopes to eliminate with the new design. The new space hear is set to have interchangeable parts that can be used for spacewalks in microgravity or on a planetary surface.

On December 11th 2017, President Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1, refocusing NASA's efforts in human space exploration. In March 2019, Vice President Mike Pence made the surprising announcement that America would be returning astronauts to the Moon in just 5 years time. This Lunar mission, known as Artemis which stands for "Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun", is hoping to leave more than just a flag and footprints this time. NASA aims to establish a base on the Moon and in orbit by 2028, providing a foundation for where scientists will eventually power a mission to Mars and beyond. The Artemis mission has left many questioning whether it is possible to send human's back to the Moon in just five years time, with a report claiming that NASA would need an annual increase of $4-$5 billion on top of its $22.6 billion 2020 budget.