NASA wants help from companies to document its return to moon

NASA is slated to return to the moon in 2024 with its Artemis mission, but it’s asking for help from companies to document the trip.

The agency sent out a request for partners who would utilize new technologies, including “360-degree field-of-view camera systems, virtual reality, advanced imagery compression to improve image quality over limited bandwidth communication links” and more.

NASA wants coverage and approaches that “will go beyond our standard coverage on NASA TV,” Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. “We want to capture the awe of Apollo for a new generation – the Artemis Generation. Just as people were glued to the TV 50 years ago as astronauts took the first steps on the moon, we want to bring people along in this new era of exploration.”

Throughout this decade, NASA will explore more of the moon than ever before and will establish a sustainable human presence with the Artemis program in preparation for future human missions.

The space agency said it was searching out a wide range of partners, including broadcasters, studios, the aerospace industry, academia and nonprofit organizations. Last month, NASA awarded $370 million to 14 different American companies, including a contract to build “the first LTE/4G communications system in space.”

NASA’s Artemis program is intended to land American astronauts on the moon by 2024, as well as establish a sustainable human presence on Earth’s natural satellite.

To date, only 12 people, all Americans, have landed on the moon.