Jul 24, 2018 06:00:00

What is the reason why humans have not set foot on the moon for over 45 years?

In 1969, the American Apollo mission enabled humans to set foot on the moon for the first time, approximately 380,000 kilometers from Earth. However, although a total of 12 people walked on the moon during six landings during the Apollo program, no manned exploration of the moon has been conducted since

Apollo 17 in 1972 for various reasons. There are various reasons why humans have not conducted lunar surface exploration for more than 45 years, although it should be technically possible.

Astronauts explain why humans haven't returned to the moon in decades - Business Insider
http://uk.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7

During the Cold War after World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were competing in the field of space development. In 1961, the Soviet Union's Vostok 1 succeeded in the world's first manned space flight, and crew member Yuri Gagarin became the first human astronaut to fly out of the atmosphere. In response to this, the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, announced the launch of the ``Apollo Program'' to bring humans to the moon. In July 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon, marking the first time humans successfully set foot on the moon.

Since then, the Apollo program has sent humans to the moon six times. The last mission to explore the moon was Apollo 17 in December 1972, which included a geologist on board and brought back 34 kg of samples. The image below is a photo of Captain Eugene Cernan who landed on the moon with Apollo 17 on December 13, 1972, but humans have not walked on the moon since this mission.

Plans for manned lunar exploration have been shelved primarily because of cost issues. According to a report by NASA in 2005, it would cost $133.3 billion (approximately 14.8 trillion yen) over 13 years to restart the moon exploration plan. In fact, the Apollo program is said to have cost approximately 120 billion dollars (approximately 13.3 trillion yen) in current value. Walter Cunningham, an astronaut on

Apollo 7, said, ``Human exploration is the most expensive space project and the most difficult to gain political support.'' In 1965, NASA's budget was 'It used to account for 4% of the federal budget. Since the 1970s, it has been less than 1%, and for the past 15 years it has been only about 0.4% of the federal budget.'

In addition, exploration plans are greatly influenced not only by the budget but also by the president's policy direction. For example, in 2004, the Bush administration launched the Constellation Project, a space exploration project using the disposable rocket Ares . However, the plan slowed down due to cost reductions, costing $9 billion (about 1 trillion yen), and the Constellation Plan was abolished during the Obama administration in 2010. However, at the end of 2017, President Trump declared that he would once again aim to build a base on the moon .

Apart from budget and political considerations, the harsh environment of the moon is also one of the reasons why lunar exploration plans are not carried out. For example, the moon's surface is covered with a very fine dust-like substance called '

regolith .' It has been pointed out that this regolith may accelerate the deterioration of spacesuits and spacecraft, or cause defects in spacecraft systems. Another big problem is that the moon's surface does not have a thick atmosphere like Earth's, and daylight lasts for 14 days, so it is exposed directly to sunlight for about two weeks. In order to carry out long-term lunar exploration, it is necessary not only to launch a rocket, but also to develop equipment that can withstand the lunar harsh environment, such as regolith and sunlight.

For economic, political, and technical reasons, humans have not explored the lunar surface for over 45 years since the Apollo 17 mission. On the other hand, private space companies are growing rapidly, with SpaceX planning a manned lunar orbit flight in 2018 , and Vodafone and Nokia announcing the construction of a 4G communication network on the lunar surface . Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos founded the aerospace company Blue Origin and announced the Blue Moon program, a plan to land on the moon by 2023. The first manned moon landing of the 21st century may be carried out by a private company rather than by NASA.

Amazon may be able to deliver to the moon by 2023 - GIGAZINE