NASA wants to use a fleet of MoonFall drones to scout the lunar south pole: 'We believe we can do it'

Last month, NASA chief Jared Isaacman ripped off the Band-Aid on the space agency's back-to-the-moon agenda, calling for a large overhaul of NASA's Artemis Program. One of his announcements was a speedy series of robotic missions to scout, conduct experiments and prepare for surface operations ahead of any "rebooting" of the lunar landscape by astronauts in 2028. As part of NASA's "Ignition" event on March 24, Isaacman called for clearing away needless obstacles that impede progress, said the agency would "unleash the workforce and industrial might of our nation" to return to the lunar landscape and build a moon base. One aspect of the NASA chief's Artemis makeover was use of hopper drones under what's called MoonFall. A Request for Proposals for moving MoonFall forward was issued the day of the NASA Ignition event. But what is the effort, why now, and what's next in getting this initiative underway? Standing on the shoulders of Ingenuity Ray Baker is the project lead for the MoonFall project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. MoonFall involves the release of four camera and sensor-laden "drones" over a still-to-be-selected site at the lunar south pole , Baker told Space.com. …