Twelve launches. Eight failures. Four modules on the surface. That is a base.
Administrator Clane retroactively renamed Era 8 "The Training Era." The Herald understands why: it was the era where the program stopped flying headlines and started building infrastructure. LSI 2 - the second-generation lunar orbital station - was constructed with a 12-kerbal capacity, an onboard science lab, and hydroponics modules. Eight crew now maintain it. The station also serves as the HESTIA communications relay, a function NASA did not publicly emphasize during construction.
FOUNDATION was harder. L-HABSCI-1, the first permanent Mun base, required twelve launches. Eight failed. Four modules reached the surface. Melody - operating remotely, we presume from mission control - assembled the base from those four modules. The Herald has not been permitted to identify which specific modules failed or why. We have submitted a request. We expect a PDF.
REPOSE was the first crewed landing at L-HABSCI-1. Valentina Kerman, Huddin Kerman, and Samsey Kerman descended to the base. NASA described the descent as "the most challenging entry in program history." The Herald's sources describe it as the scariest event the program has experienced, including DRIFTING. All three crew landed safely. The base was activated. ROV-1 - the Kerbalmouse rover - was deployed from it.
HESTIA was revealed in sectional testing during this era. The Herald reported on it then. We are reporting on it now. It is the vehicle currently in Duna orbit. The sectional testing was, in retrospect, preparation for the most ambitious mission in the program's history.