NASA plans a return to the moon in a decade – but this time the astronauts will stay there

On July 20, 1969, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, pilot of the lunar module of the first lunar landing mission , posed for a photo next to the deployed United States Flag during a Apollo 11 moonwalk. The lunar module is on the left, and the astronauts footprints are clearly visible.

NASA

Bob Richards remembers seeing gray and ghostly characters bouncing on his family's black-and-white television screen nearly half a century ago Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first humans walking on the moon

Pbadionate about the success of Apollo 11, which landed 49 years ago on July 20, and by the future portrayed in pop culture by "Star Trek" and "2001: A Space Odyssey ", Richards was certain that routine flights to the moon and space stations were inevitable in a few decades.

That never happened: the United States canceled their big budget lunar program just a few years later. an epic Space Race victory over Russia, and the astronauts have not left Earth's orbits since.

But Richards, the CEO of Cape Canaveral's Moon Express and a self-described "Apollo orphan," is now confident that Americans are in a decade of re turning to the surface lunar – this time to stay.

"It's a different paradigm, to have the economy introduced to exploration and science," said Richards, whose company is trying to reduce the cost of lunar missions robotic. "This must be part of a growing and continuous expansion of the human economic and social sphere to the moon, then to Mars, and finally to the stars."

Under the new direction of the Trump administration, NASA plans to partner with companies like Moon Express to pilot small robotic landers carrying scientific instruments to the Moon, starting this year. next.

This is a modest start to public-private partnerships that aim to help companies develop increasingly powerful undercarriages faster and cheaper than NASA could do on its own. A first mid-size undercarriage could perform a demo mission as early as 2022, helping to inform the design of a larger, human-clbad landing gear.

A similar approach has maintained the International Space Station since the Space Shuttle retreat.

SpaceX and Northrop Grumman rockets and spacecraft are now delivering cargo to the Low Earth Orbit Research Complex. SpaceX and Boeing hope to fly astronauts there a year

With NASA's support, SpaceX's Falcon 9 has become the country's most popular rocket, making the US launch market grow. moved overseas.

For more information: The SpaceX Falcon rocket was taking off with a crew member of the robot

To learn more: to launch rockets in the United Kingdom space

"What happened to the commercial launch industry is about to arrive at the US. commercial lunar industry, "Richards said. "I think there are very strong badogies between the two."

Moon Express hopes to fly to the moon more than once a year for government, commercial or academic clients. Astrobotic and Masten Space Systems are other small landing companies that have worked with NASA.

The partnerships proposed by NASA also have the potential to leverage the interests of billionaires who believe in a sustained lunar program. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, was also heavily influenced by Apollo 11.

Blue Origin, which Bezos backs up to $ 1 billion a year, develops rockets to steal people, and proposed a "Blue Moon" delivery service for heavy cargoes that could establish and support a lunar outpost.

"I think we should build a permanent human settlement on one of the lunar poles," Bezos said last year. "It's time to go back to the moon, but this time to stay."

The adoption of the Moon by NASA's trading partners follows President Trump's decision last December. "This is the first step in the return of American astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, for exploration and long-term use," said Trump at a ceremony unveiling the policy. "This time, not only will we plant our flag and leave our footprints – we will lay the groundwork for a possible mission to Mars, and perhaps one day, to many other worlds."

Constellation, which came into being after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. An independent review showed that the program was too late and exceeded the budget.

Obama put Mars as a center for human exploration, considering a mission in the 2030s. Elon Musk

NASA began developing the Space Launch System – which will be more powerful than the Saturn V rocket of the Apollo program – and the Orion capsule for missions in the deep space. 19659005] The Space Agency is now planning to place a small space station, or "gateway", into the lunar orbit that Orion astronauts could visit in the mid-1920s, but without any means of Reach the surface unless

The Trump leadership and its renaissance of a National Council of Space were "important in that they helped to restore a direction that had been lost, "said Paul Spudis, a lunar scientist. "Now you have to sit down and find a detailed plan, an architecture to go back to."

Spudis pleads for a gradual return that does not look like a few days out missions performed by Apollo crews. "

" This return to the moon should be different, "he said." What we should do is concentrate on establishing permanent infrastructure in the regions. Moon, and begin to establish a permanent presence.Why should the focus be on resource exploration, transport cislunar and housing. "

Why did scientists confirmed that the moon was harboring ice-water in permanently shaded craters?

This is a resource that could support astronauts with air and drinking water without having to launch anything from the Earth, it could be used to store energy and create rocket fuel by breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen, a better understanding of the location of the ice – which pole is the best target – and concentration is the key to determining where people should get a foothold

With reusable fuel depots and spaceships, the missions a wide variety of orbits, compared to single-purpose missions performed under Apollo.

For more information: The new telescope offers a clearer view of the bright center of the Milky Way

Israel Israel plans mission on the Moon using the smallest spacecraft to make the trip

And the technologies needed to harvest the resources could be perfected closer to homes – days away from Earth than from the eight-month trip to Mars.

The vision now exists on paper, but NASA's budgets, plans and timelines remain vague. The budget forecasts badume that NASA will reduce its spending on the ISS by 2025, a plan that has proved unpopular in Congress.

NASA has struggled for decades to reach ambitious goals with a budget that is a fraction of the top Apollo levels – less than half of 1% of federal spending, compared to over 4% in the United States. mid-60s.

"A big part of our problem is that unrealistic expectations are there, both in terms of," said Dan Dumbacher, executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and astronautics, which had previously played a leading role in the under-funded Constellation program of NASA.

A goal as clear as Apollo – beating the Russians – can continue to be a challenge

"This return to the moon is for practical, scientific, economic, and national security purposes," said Spudis. "It's much harder to justify that, so it's easy to get distracted and put out of the race. We are just going to have to wait and see how it all goes. "

For more information: Astronomers discover 12 more moons in orbit around Jupiter, including a" ball "

Learn more: Amazing photos show Venus dancing near the moon

Nobody knows exactly when humans could land on the moon, or what a mix of government and commercial systems

John Logsdon, space historian, is skeptical about the existence of a compelling business case for the mining of lunar resources, so that private companies will return to the moon

because we want to go, "he said. "It's still geopolitical."

NASA is slowly approaching a first launch of the Kennedy Space Center's SLS rocket in 2020, with an Orion crew potentially flying around the Moon in 2023 and private partnerships hatched. Progress may seem slow, but still represents a rush towards fulfilling the wish of Apollo 17's astronaut, Gene Cernan, that his boots are not the last left in the lunar ground

"We are closer than we are since 1972, "said Logsdon. "There now seems to be political support for both the White House and Congress for a return to the moon, so I think technically and politically, we are closer in the middle of 2018 than we have been. in 46 years. "

Momentum could be built as the nation approaches the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 next year. will remind us that it was something we did once, and it was great to do it. "

Follow James Dean on Twitter: @flatoday_jdean

Copyright 2017 USATODAY.com