NASA programs that humans will travel to the moon by the end of this decade. However, it would not be a round trip. The idea is to install a base there that will serve as a starting point for the route to Mars. The project includes exploring the lunar surface and creating a base for planning the trip to Mars.
NASA has canceled every trip to the moon for 48 years.
No other person has landed on the natural satellite since Eugene Cernan, a crew member of the Apollo 17 mission, stepped on the moon. However, 50 years ago it was predicted that trips to the moon would be the order of the day in 2020. When Apollo XI landed on the lunar surface in 1969 and Neil Armstrong was the first man to step on it, everyone imagined trips to Mars for the 1980s.
In the 1970s, however, scientific interests did not justify such a millionaire investment. Because of this, NASA’s budget dropped dramatically and the Apollo mission was canceled in 1972. Now, in 2020, interests changed and space exploration turned into space exploitation. Today there are private entrepreneurs who have to invest in a new space race to industrialize space.
There are plans to install a base on the moon to reach Mars
Trump suspected what was coming and reactivated a space program in 2017. The idea is to send astronauts to the moon first and then back to Mars. The first tentative date for the return to the moon was 2028, but it was brought forward to 2024.
It is planned to stay to establish a base there. The new program is called Artemis and has the task of sending a woman and a man to the moon. Exploring, building a base, finding water are some of the most important goals. To do this, they want to build a satellite that orbits the moon. The ultimate goal, however, is to lay the groundwork for a future lunar journey to Mars, which is scheduled for the 2030s.
There are many powers interested in traveling into space
The United States no longer has a single rival in space exploration. In the past it was only Russia. Today, China has become a competing power in many areas, including space technology.
Russia returns to plan an unmanned mission to the moon in 2021. India is participating in the conquest of the moon, together with the Japanese space agency, through a robotic mission. Israel is another power that will send a robotic vehicle to the moon after the failure of its last mission.
Currently, NASA relies on Russia to place their astronauts in space. Each astronaut costs NASA more than $ 80 million to be transported to the ISS in a Soyuz spacecraft. NASA is supposed to develop its own spaceship with state or private capital.
The recent discovery of frozen water and helium 3 on the moon has sparked even more economic interest. The Artemis program plans to build a satellite called the Gateway that orbits the moon. From there, the astronauts can control the robots that work on the surface.
During this decade and through 2030, the race to the moon will resume. The United States has driven that endeavor. For its part, China announced its new projects for the end of the current decade. After all, Mars is the next target to be conquered
