2019-07-12

TO THE MOON AND BEYOND

In 2017, Donald Trump signed a space policy directive to return American astronauts to the Moon, and on to “other destinations”. Nasa said it would aim to do this by 2028. But recently the administration directed the space agency to bring that forward to 2024, citing Chinese lunar ambitions. It hasn't gone unnoticed, however, that the date would coincide with the end of Trump's second term, should he be re-elected.

This time round, Nasa wants to do things differently. The Moon is part of a bigger ambition to explore deep space, including Mars, so part of the plan is to establish a lunar outpost.

“We're not going back to the Moon to leave flags and footprints and then not go back for another 50 years,” Nasa’s administrator Jim Bridenstine said earlier this year. “We're going to go sustainably - to stay - with landers and robots and rovers and humans."

But can Nasa safely mount a return mission by the deadline, given that critical hardware has either not built or not flight tested?

“It’s going to be risky,” says John Logsdon, professor emeritus of political science and international affairs at George Washington University in DC. But he adds: “If we’re not willing to accept a certain level of risk, then we should stay on the ground. The issue is balancing risk with activity.”

The human factor

Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin

Previous Nasa lunar missions have been named after the Greek god Apollo. The next will be named Artemis after his mythical twin sister, and there is already speculation about the identity of the first female Moonwalker.

The agency has 38 active astronauts, 12 of whom are women. They include Kate Rubins, a microbiologist who has studied some of Earth’s deadliest diseases; Jeanette Epps, a former CIA technical officer; Serena Aunon-Chancellor, a doctor; and Christina Koch, an electrical engineer.

Jim Bridenstine recently told CNN: “It will be somebody who has been proven, somebody who has flown, somebody who has been on the International Space Station already.”