Research Notes: The Cancelled Destination

What science actually justifies a permanent lunar base, separate from Mars chatter, billionaire feuds, and flag-planting theatre? Four astronauts had just looped the Moon, closer to the far side than any crewed vehicle had ever travelled. A week before they launched, NASA had pivoted the entire programme toward building a permanent outpost. The sequencing felt off. Trail started there: follow the money, follow the physics, follow the governance, and see what’s actually load-bearing.

The research trail

First stop, the NASA Artemis II launch day blog and the splashdown-day news release. Crew (Wiseman, Glover, Koch, Hansen), closest far-side approach 4,067 miles, distance record set April 6.