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NASA is preparing plans to allow US private companies to land on the moon.
And the chief administrator of NASA said that the return of the United States to the nearest neighbor of the Earth would be "earlier than expected".
EPA
The last time NASA put anything on the moon was the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.
This marked the end of an era of lunar exploration under the impetus of the Cold War: space scientists were heading towards more daring targets, such as Mars.
Just this week, NASA's InSight lander has successfully landed on the red planet, where it will begin to probe for the first time under the Martian surface.
And on Thursday, NASA will hold a press conference revealing partnerships with US companies wishing to visit the Moon and Mars.
EPA
"We are announcing new partnerships with US companies," NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said in an article on Twitter.
"The United States is returning to the surface of the moon, and we are doing it sooner than you think!"
The conference will begin at 2:00 pm, New York time and 7:00 pm, UK time.
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate director of NASA, astronaut Stan Love of NASA and Andrea Mosie, who manages the Apollo laboratory sample, will also be attending.
The details are clear about exactly what partnerships will involve, and which space companies are listed.
NASA's only clue is that it will work with American companies: this is the next step to achieve long-term scientific study and human exploration of the Moon and Mars. "
AP: Associated Press
The Moon – our nearest neighbor explained
Here's what you need to know …
- The Moon is a natural satellite – a space body that revolves around a planet
- It is the only natural satellite of the Earth and the fifth of the solar system.
- The moon is 2.158 miles wide, about 0.27 times the diameter of the Earth
- Temperatures on the Moon range from minus 173 degrees Celsius to 260 degrees Celsius
- The experts assumed that the moon was another planet, until Nicolaus Copernicus expounded his theory about our solar system in 1543
- He was finally assigned to a "class" after Galileo discovered four moons in orbit around Jupiter in 1610
- The moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago
- The strength of its gravitational field is about one-sixth of Earth's gravity.
- The Earth and the Moon have a "synchronous rotation", which means that we always see the same side of the Moon – hence the "dark side of the Moon"
- The surface of the moon is actually dark, but looks bright in the sky because of its reflective floor
- During a solar eclipse, the moon almost completely covers the sun. Both objects have a similar size in the sky because the sun is both 400 times bigger and farther away.
- The first spacecraft to reach the Moon dates from 1959, as part of the lunar program of the Soviet Union.
- The first manned orbital mission was Apollo 8 of NASA in 1968
- And the first inhabited lunar landing was in 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission
In any case, the United States does not miss private space companies in the hope of making the most of real estate off the planet.
Amazonian billionaire Jeff Bezos runs his own space company called Blue Origin, which has already shown a keen interest in visiting the moon.
Similarly, Tesla Titan Elon Musk regularly collaborates with NASA as part of its SpaceX business, which builds powerful rocket launchers.
Richard Branson also operates Virgin Galactic, a commercial flight company based in Mojave, California.
The company's plan is to provide orbital spaceflight, but it is still possible that lunar landings are also on the charts.
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NASA caught the world's attention this week after successfully sending a lander to the surface of Mars.
After an arduous journey of 301 million miles, InSight landed late Monday night.
Project leader Tom Hoffman said the probe had landed close to the target, but NASA had not yet obtained the final calculations.
And InSight has already sent two photographs to Earth since March, an incredible feat in itself.
Now that NASA is helping private companies take part in the act, we could prepare for a new golden age of space exploration.
Do you think you will ever have a chance to visit the moon? Let us know in the comments!
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