BRAND-new moon shot, brand-new technology – right? You may be looking forward to ground-breaking, futuristic spacecraft and hardware, but the reality will almost certainly be much more prosaic. For reasons of safety and cost, NASA is looking to go retro, reviving and updating 1960s concepts to get people to the moon and back, and thumbing through old blueprints for ways to provide lunar settlers with shelter.
NASA won’t decide on the specifics of this latest moon shot for some time. “I think we’ve got to avoid getting fond of a design,” said NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe soon after Bush’s announcement. But the basic options for a future…
![Small dome in the Compton-Belkovich region (61.33 ?N, 99.68 ?E). Evidence indicates a volcanic origin for this and other intriguing features in the region. Incidence angle is 64?, Sun is from the SSW, image is ~510 m across. NAC image number M139238146L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].](https://images.newscientistbeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/07172644/SEI_163208069.jpg)
