Buoyed by the successful Artemis II mission around the Moon in April , NASA has been ramping up its plans to explore the lunar surface and build a base there. Now, those Moon dreams are in trouble, as one of the aerospace companies heavily involved in executing them — Blue Origin in Kent, Washington — experienced a spectacular explosion during a rocket test in Florida on 28 May. Historic Artemis II Moon fly-by: Nature ’s live coverage as it happened No one was hurt in the blast, but the company’s rocket design is now being re-assessed and its launch facilities are heavily damaged. That leaves NASA at least temporarily without a key partner for its ambitious Moon base plans. A Blue Origin mission was supposed to launch to the Moon later this year using a rocket of the type that just exploded.…