Building The Moon Economy From the Launch Pad Up

NASA wants the commercial sector to provide pretty much everything, from housing to mining operations on the moon. But first, the space agency needs to establish itself as the anchor tenant to bring the commercial sector along. Meanwhile, China plans to establish a base within the decade. Laura Winter is at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium’s Fall Meeting at the University of Texas, El Paso. She speaks with U.S. Representative Veronic Escobar, representing El Paso; and Jim Reuter, NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate.