We’ve already been to the moon, so why are we going again?

On July 20, 1969, the world watched with bated breath as two American astronauts – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin – glided across the lunar surface, with Command Module pilot Michael Collins watching from above.

This was to usher in a new era: the Space Age. Humans are “avoiding”earth’s strong bonds” and expanding into space.

But after six more missions (Including Apollo 13, which is famousSuffered an accident that prevented them from landing on the surface of the Moon)Humanity’s Moon dreams came to an end after Apollo 17 in December 1972.

Why did it end? Some give various reasons for this: the costly Vietnam War, the fact that the US did what it set out to do (defeat the former Soviet Union), or that public interest had waned. Whatever the reason, it has been 53 years since humans went this close to the Moon.

Now, that’s changing with NASA’s ambitious Artemis program, designed to return humans to the lunar surface within the next few years.

But why bother going back to the moon? How could this possibly benefit humanity?

“We go for science and we go for engineering development, basically. You’re doing a lot of hard work that’s never been done before,” said Philip Stooke, professor emeritus and assistant Research Professor at the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration At Western University in London, Ontario. “You’re developing new technologies. And that’s really the whole reason for human spaceflight to begin with.”

First human lunar test arrives with Artemis II, about to launch In early February. Onboard will be Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency and NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch.

Although they will not land on the Moon, their 10-day mission will take them around the Moon, where all four This will be the longest journey any human has ever undertaken. They will test critical hardware and conduct various experiments designed to provide as much information as possible to the next crew Artemis III.

That mission is scheduled for 2028, and will see astronauts return to the lunar surface, specifically the Moon’s south pole, a previously unexplored area (a few attempts have been made with landers, with two successful missions).

technological progress

It’s not just the Artemis program, which involves 61 countries, that aims to reach the Moon. CHina is hot on NASA’s tail, with plans to Man on the moon by 2030. Then there’s India: it plans to put one Astronauts on the Moon by 2040.

The Moon is a hot object.

It’s not just about going to the Moon to prove it can be done. It’s about living on the moon. and there are More than a dozen private companies Betting on this is a permanent endeavor.

To some people, going to the moon may seem a trivial and expensive endeavor Money can be best spent in other waysSuch as on climate change or poverty.

But for space agencies and private companies it is seen as an investment.

“One way to understand… is the involvement of private companies. Private companies see the benefits. And that’s who they are. They’re not into scientific development,” said Ram Jakhu, associate professor at McGill University’s Faculty of Law in Montreal.

“They know it’s meant to be exploited. Exploitation of resources doesn’t happen in a year or two. Not all at once. You have to be there, extract the resources, capture those resources, process them, bring them back.”

‘Science of the Moon’

But there is also science that applies to everyday human use on Earth.

“Moon science especially benefits people, but there’s another side to it, too, and that’s medical, like space medicine,” Stooke said.

“Remotely monitoring people’s health while orbiting the moon, let’s say, is no different than trying to remotely monitor people’s health because they’re living in the high Arctic and they can’t go to a doctor.”

But some technology may come out of these types of space missions almost accidentally.

“I think one of the things people often comment on is computers. They’ll say, oh, there was a computer in the Apollo spacecraft, but my computer on my phone is a million times more powerful, and that’s true,” Stooke said.

“But the thing is, we wouldn’t have all the things that we have today in computers and phones and I mean practically everything has a computer chip in it these days, cars and everything. We wouldn’t have all that if the early developments hadn’t happened.”

The Apollo space missions not only brought us CComputer technology, but they also helped us with food safety And gave us things like cordless power tools, water purification systems, and more.

Canadarm’s technology has also been modified for use hospital surgery.

new space economy

This new era of lunar exploration can be seen by governments investing in companies.

For example, the Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation (formerly known as the Canadian Space Mining Corporation) was awarded a $1 million award. low enriched uranium nuclear reactor on the moon By the Canadian Space Agency.

there are even lLunar mining companies are working on extracting resources, Such as water and helium-3 – which has long been touted as a clean energy solution from the Moon.

And these companies are creating jobs.

“Space is a huge business these days. You know, billions and billions of dollars are being made. And the thing is, you know, we – I mean, people – used to criticize Apollo, for example, by saying, all this money is being spent on going to the moon. And we can say the same now, the Artemis program,” Stooke said.

“But that’s where the money is being spent. And it’s paying everyone from people mining titanium to people cleaning offices to go into spacecraft.”

As the old saying goes, only time will tell whether this return to the Moon will be long-term or left in the moon dust like Apollo.

But Jakhu is optimistic.

“What’s happening in space in general, and to the Moon in particular, is of great importance to humanity and to individuals,” he said. “I always believe that the use of artificial intelligence, as well as space exploration, is going to bring about huge changes in humanity in unprecedented ways.”