"This is when living and working on the Moon becomes a reality," NASA said about "humanity’s first lunar outpost."

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin​, Astrolab, Lunar Outpost and Firefly Aerospace are awarded with hundreds of millions of dollars in NASA contracts for the first phase of its moon base plans.

In 1963, NASA and General Motors designed a pressurized lunar truck capable of keeping two astronauts alive on the moon for two weeks, but budget cuts and the Vietnam War killed it before it ever left the ground.

NASA is launching uncrewed missions to transport lunar rovers and build a moon base at the lunar south pole before astronauts return to stay.

The space agency outlined the first phase of its moon base plans on Tuesday, awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to four U.S. companies.

The FLEX Rover will be equipped to carry two astronauts and traverse hundreds of miles of lunar terrain.

For years, the conversation around humanity’s future in space has revolved around one destination: Mars. Much of that discussion has centered on Elon Musk and SpaceX, whose long-term vision is nothing less than building a self-sustaining city on the Red Planet.

The first three missions are targeted to launch this year. They’ll involve lunar landers developed by several aerospace companies, including Blue Origin, and deliver scientific instruments and a rover

At an event at NASA Headquarters, space agency officials unveiled the first rovers and landers headed to the future site of its planned lunar south pole outpost

SpaceX is preparing for Starship Flight 12 at Starbase, discussing the current status of Ship 39 and Booster 19. The video covers the number of Starships in the production pipeline and outlines expectations for Flight 17.