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Moon Base User's Guide: Architecture Resources

Document: Moon Base User's Guide — Architecture Resources, NASA Headquarters, publication number NP-2026-04-6806-HQ (p. 16). 16 pages. No version number is printed; the publication number and download path (/2026/04/) date it to April 2026. Files: text sources/text/docs/2026-04-moon-base-architecture-users-guide.txt; raw PDF sources/raw/docs/2026-04-moon-base-architecture-users-guide.pdf (fetched 2026-10-01, per sources/manifest.csv).

Summary. The guide is NASA's bridge between the Moon Base announced at the "Ignition" event on 24 March 2026 and the Architecture Definition Document (ADD). It "overviews resources available within the agency's Architecture Definition Document that can help guide these research, technology, and infrastructure investments to realize the Moon Base" (p. 2). It gives the three-phase plan with launch, landing and mass numbers (p. 4), the Phase 1 functional gaps by sub-architecture (pp. 8–10), and the technology and data gaps behind each Moon Base capability (pp. 12–13). It closes with Mars-forward considerations (p. 14) and partnership priorities (p. 15). It is the only source that ties ADD gap IDs to the Moon Base. The January and February 2026 workshop decks cite gap IDs but don't mention the Moon Base; the Moon Base pages and the Ignition material cite none; the older sources predate it (searched for gap, data-gap and function IDs).

Extraction note

The text extraction scrambles the graphics on pp. 4 and 8–13 (columns interleaved, gap labels out of order, some data-gap IDs repeated on p. 12). Wiki pages built from those pages were checked against the raw PDF images. Functional-gap IDs are printed inconsistently in the PDF (for example "FN-C 101 L", "FN-C-201 L", "FN-A-201L"). This wiki normalizes them to the form FN-C-101 L.

Contents by page

Pages Content Wiki page
2 Executive summary: Ignition event, Moon Base at the lunar South Pole, SR-1 Freedom for Mars Moon Base hub
3 "Achieving the vision": end goal is "a continuous human presence on the lunar surface"; ADD resources as a partnership framework Moon Base hub
4 Phased implementation graphic: launches, landings, mass to surface, goals per phase Phases
6 Phased approach; shared infrastructure; market enablers and technology readiness Phases
7 Environmental challenges (lighting, terrain) and interoperability Environment
8–10 Phase 1 functional gaps by sub-architecture, with architectural value and capability targets Phase 1 functional gaps
11 What technology gaps and data gaps are Technology and knowledge challenges
12–13 Technology and knowledge challenges, with tech-gap and data-gap IDs Technology and knowledge challenges
14 Mars-forward considerations Mars-forward
15 Partnership priorities Priorities

Key definitions (NASA's wording)

  • Functional gaps: "architecture functions that are either currently unallocated to any existing elements, or functions that need additional performance to be fully satisfied" (p. 9).
  • Architecture-driven technology gaps: "represent the difference between available functional capabilities and desired future capabilities". "If a new project or program can meet an architectural need using existing technology, then that area is not a technology gap" (p. 11).
  • Architecture-driven data gaps: "exist when a lack of information affects NASA's ability to implement the Moon Base and enable lunar exploration" (p. 11). The initial list in ADD Rev C is "not comprehensive or prioritized" (p. 11).
  • Both gap lists "serve as demand signals from NASA to industry, academia, and international partners" (p. 11).

What to know when using it

  • The guide gives two time scopes. Only the functional gaps are headed "PHASE 01" (pp. 8–10). The tech and data gaps are "key technology and knowledge challenges associated with near-term Moon Base development efforts", and "Missions during phase one of Moon Base development offer opportunities to collect data and mature technologies to enable essential phase two and phase three capabilities" (p. 11). The wiki labels these gaps "named in the Moon Base Users Guide (near-term)", not "for Phase 1".
  • It names ADD appendices without saying which ones. It refers to "an appendix of the Architecture Definition Document" for the full list of unallocated functions (p. 9) and to "NASA's Architecture Definition Document appendices" for the gaps (p. 11). By title, the matching ADD Rev C sections are B.5 "Unallocated Functions by Use Case", Appendix D and Appendix E; that match is the wiki's (see the ADD Rev C source page).

  • Its function titles mostly follow the ADD, with one mismatch. Its 31 Phase 1 functional gaps (pp. 8–10), against ADD Rev C's list of lunar functions (pp. 117–127):

    • 19 match word for word
    • 3 differ in wording (FN-A-201 L; FN-H-102 L and FN-X-103 L say "moderate" for "mid")
    • 8 differ only in typography
    • "FN-P 102 L" is printed with the title of the ADD's FN-P-202 L, "Store energy in the south pole region on the lunar surface" (p. 10, PDF checked)

    The wiki keeps the guide's entries as printed. See Lunar functions and open question 40.

  • It gives no dates for the phases. The dates come from the Moon Base web pages (see Phases).

  • On p. 4 it says "for full, up to date phasing implementation details, visit www.nasa.gov/ignition". That page has not been fetched.

Moon Base hub · Phases · Phase 1 functional gaps · Technology and knowledge challenges · Environment · Mars-forward · Priorities