Why is there suddenly a great interest in a new moon landing after more than 50 years?
In: Planetary Science
The big goal now is to put the first human being on Mars. Given that the trip to Mars is ~~3~~ 7mo each way, it only makes sense to go to Mars if we stay there for a little while and do research – no couple-day trips like we did for the original Apollo moon landings, but rather weeks or even months on planet.
This requires us to do something we’ve never done before – build a (semi) permanent base on a non-Earth object. There are going to be some significant challenges in building something like that, and it is better to experience those challenges somewhere that _isn’t_ 7mo away, just in case something goes wrong. The moon is the logical place to test – build a base there, iron out the kinks, and then use what we learn to put the base on Mars.
Of course, for us to build a base on the moon, we need to start heading back there again. Hence the interest.
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