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NASA's plans to work from a base on the moon, instead of flying dispersed sortie missions on the Apollo model, would require a big lander to carry the habitation modules. The agency engineers are working on a lunar surface access module (LSAM) that can put about 6,000 kg down on the moon's surface and also on a 'medium' robotic lander that would scout potential moon base site at one of the lunar poles as early as 2011, if proper funding is available.

Noted lunar scientists Paul Spudis stated in 2006 that claims that ground-based radars have discredited the theory that water ice is hidden in cold traps at the moon's poles are overwrought and not by the preponderance evidence. Spudis was responding to a report from scientists who used the Arecibo and Robert C. Byrd radio telescopes to obtain high-resolution radar imagery of the lunar poles, which says their data show regions with the high circular polarization ration (CPR) that could be a signature of water ice extending beyond he permanently shaded deep craters at the poles into lighted areas where ice cannot persist.

NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin has reported that the agency would start serious discussions with prospective international and commercial partners for their cooperation with America's plans to return to and explore the lunar surface. The US alone cannot fulfill the goals of the vision for space exploration and hence it would have to work with international and commercial partners to figure out what that can collectively accomplish at exit ramps.