NASA invites India to part of its Moon Base Mission.

The ambitious Moon base mission is a program to build humanity's first lunar outpost near the Moon's South Pole.

Invite follows US-India Space Group Meet

According to the US space agency, the project aims to unlock scientific discoveries and prepare for future deep space exploration. India and the US explored expanding space co-operation at a meeting of their Civil Space Joint Working Group held in Bangalore last week. The two sides agreed to advance discussions for co-operation on open scientific data sharing.

Step-by-step approach to build base

* The Moon base will be built in phases, says NASA. It will begin with robotic missions to test new 

   technology, then build systems and infrastructure needed to establish humanity's first long-term

   presence on the Moon.

* The first phase will focus on gaining reliable access to the lunar surface and building a deeper

   understanding of the environment.

9th meet of India- US Space Joint Working Group was held last week.