Why Didnt Men Go to the Moon Again
In July 1969 humans landed on the Moon for the start time, as part of the Apollo 11 mission. But why haven't we been back since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972?
Why oasis't we been dorsum to the Moon?
The Apollo 11 Moon landing in July 1969 was a huge feat of human endeavour, engineering and scientific discipline. It was a moment that the world had been waiting for.
Apollo 11 was followed by half-dozen farther trips to the Moon, five of which landed successfully. 12 men walked on the lunar surface in total.But in 1970 futurity Apollo missions were cancelled. Apollo 17 became the last manned mission to the Moon, for an indefinite amount of fourth dimension.
The main reason for this was money. The cost of getting to the Moon was, ironically, astronomical.
When was the last time we went to space?
Although we haven't put a human being on the lunar surface since the 1970s, there are at present regular crewed missions to space.
Skylab - 1973-1974
Skylab was the first NASA managed and operated space station. It operated betwixt May 1973 and February 1974. It had a workshop, an observatory and carried out hundreds of experiments.
Development and further use of Skylab was delayed due to bug developing the Infinite shuttle. Eventually the orbital decay of Skylab could not exist stopped. Orbital decay is the gradual decrease of distance between two objects in orbit of each other.
Space Shuttle - 1981-2011
The commencement reusable spacecraft, NASA's Space Shuttle enabled satellites to be launched and returned to Globe. The crewed spacecraft allowed NASA to travel to recover damaged satellites, ready them and send them back into space. The Space Shuttle was too instrumental in the development of the ISS.
Mir space station - 1986-2001
Mir was a Russian space station that was in operation from 1986 until 2001, and was the first continuously inhabited enquiry station in orbit. Many experiments were carried out on the space station, and its success would get the design for the current International Space Station.
International Infinite Station - 1988-present
The International Space Station, or ISS, is a continuously inhabited bogus satellite in low Earth orbit. A joint project between the Us, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada, astronauts aboard the ISS carry out various experiments, and alive on the station for about half-dozen months at a time.
When was the last time humans were on the Moon?
The terminal manned mission to the Moon was Apollo 17, taking place betwixt 7 and 19 December 1972. It was a 12-day mission and bankrupt many records, the longest space walk, the longest lunar landing and the largest lunar samples brought back to Earth.
Harrison H. Schmitt was the lunar module pilot, every bit well as being a geologist. He was joined by Ronald E. Evans every bit command module pilot and Eugene Cernan as Mission Commander.
Space Race timeline
Apollo 17 was the but Apollo mission to not carry any astronauts who had previously been test pilots. After the counterfoil of Apollo 18, the Apollo mission Schmitt had originally intended to go on, the scientific customs lobbied that he be put onto Apollo 17.
Cernan was the last to leave the lunar surface, and therefore is the about contempo person to stand on the Moon. As he ascended to the lunar module he said:
"...I'm on the surface; and, as I take man's last stride from the surface, dorsum home for some time to come up - only we believe not also long into the hereafter - I'd like to just [say] what I believe history will record. That America's claiming of today has forged man'due south destiny of tomorrow. And, as we go out the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we get out as nosotros came and, God willing, equally nosotros shall return, with peace and hope for all flesh. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."
Whilst manned missions to the moon have stopped, research into the moon and journeys to infinite all the same have identify. In that location are also futurity plans for journeys to the Moon. NASA's Artemis Program aims to render to the Moon by 2024, and gear up up a sustained man presence that would let us to regularly visit our celestial neighbour.
Find out more than virtually the future of space travel
Why NASA stopped going to the moon
The race to land humans on the Moon was kickstarted by President John F. Kennedy's 1962 spoken language at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas, now known as the 'We Choose to become to the Moon' speech. In the speech, Kennedy committed to getting a human to walk on the Moon past the end of the decade:
"And this will be done in the decade of the 60s. It may exist washed while some of you are still here at schoolhouse at this higher and university. It will exist washed during the term of office of some of the people who sit here on this platform. Simply it will exist done. And it volition be done before the terminate of this decade."
When the Moon landing took place in 1969, Kennedy's goal had been achieved, and his deadline met.
However, with the goal achieved NASA faced large funding cuts, making the future of the Apollo missions untenable. There had originally been 20 Apollo missions planned, but technological and research based missions were not seen as important as the achievement of the Moon landing itself, and the final three missions were cancelled.
Whilst the US authorities was willing to put a lot of money in to the Apollo missions when it was helpful to the space race, research and technological evolution were not viewed equally a priority. Apollo 11 was a political statement in the midst of the space race, and once it had been made, the necessity for more than missions to the Moon was gone.
Recent NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine highlighted this when he described the space race thus:
"This wasa contest of political ideologies. It was a contest of economic ideologies. Information technology was a contest of technological prowess. And in this nifty contest of great powers the United states of america of America was determined to win."
Going to the Moon was hugely expensive. Originally Kennedy's government had estimated $7 billion dollars. In the end, the total cost was $20 billion dollars.
In that location was likewise less national support. The Apollo missions had all taken identify confronting the backdrop of civil unrest in the U.s.a., and the large amounts of money being spent on space travel became a indicate of contention for the American public.
Every bit the Cold War thawed, the Strategic Artillery Limitations Talks (Salt) meant that missile product - including those used for space travel - was drastically reduced.
Future plans to get to the Moon are also driven by money. Whilst the Apollo missions saw astronauts live on the Moon for only a few days at a fourth dimension, journeys to the moon in the 21st century would focus more than on the creation of lunar bases or satellites. Bridensteine describes how the future of Lunar travel is about a sustained presence on the Moon.
"This fourth dimension when we go to the Moon we're going to stay. That's what we're looking to practise."
Source: https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/why-did-we-stop-going-moon
0 Response to "Why Didnt Men Go to the Moon Again"
Post a Comment