![]() One region that is going to see a lot of activity is the lunar south pole because there’s water there, which is an invaluable resource for keeping astronauts alive. Many of the missions going to the Moon in the years ahead will help us learn how to pull this off. The ultimate goal is to have a permanent human presence on the Moon – a base on which astronauts could routinely live and work. How humanity will return to the Moon: The future of lunar exploration.Forget rockets – a lunar elevator is the future of Moon travel.One giant joyride for humankind: The new breed of lunar rovers.The Space Race, it seems, is well and truly back on. ![]() NASA too is planning to return astronauts to the Moon before the decade is out. The numbers of landers and rovers they are sending to the lunar surface is starting to ramp up in preparation for a show of strength and power in the next decade. Emerging superpowers such as China have made no secret of their desire to land their taikonauts on the Moon. Then there’s the original motivation of going to the Moon: geopolitical bragging rights. Space tourism could help to pay for this otherwise loss-leading prospecting. Corporations are starting to see dollar signs and are investing in exploratory missions to further scope out what’s there and the feasibility of extracting it. Second, recent missions to the Moon have confirmed that it is home to important resources that are both key to building a permanent human presence on the Moon and kick-starting a new industry in space mining. The eye-watering sums they’d pay could then be used to fund further lunar exploration. They could even spend some time on the Moon itself, seeing Earth rise above its craggy, cratered surface. These reusable rockets could turn into celestial cruise ships, allowing the world’s billionaires to enjoy a week-long voyage around the Moon and back. They’ve also hit upon a potential new revenue stream: space tourism. NASA already uses SpaceX technology to deliver astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station and they’ve inked deals to collaborate on sending landers to the Moon, too. By developing reusable rockets, they’ve driven down the cost of getting to space considerably. The last decade has seen an explosion in the number of private space companies, led by famous names like Elon Musk’s SpaceX. So what’s changed?įirst, taxpayers are no longer footing the entire bill. Fast-forward to today and we’re in the midst of another space race, with a sizeable armada of spacecraft heading to the Moon in the years ahead.
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