New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- In 2024, US space agency Nasa's Artemis programme will see astronauts return to the Moon for the first time since December 1972. Recent news reports suggest China too is developing a plan for an international lunar research station for crewed missions in the near future.
Over the decades, there have been multiple moon landing missions-be it India's Chandrayaan programme or the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme, Chang'e. But clearly, the next big step in exploring the Moon will go beyond lunar landers, rovers, orbiters and robots. The next milestone is figuring out how to build Moon habitats that will not only allow astronauts to survive on the lunar surface but eventually enable human settlements on the astronomical...