Is It Time to Return to the Moon?

Humans haven’t set foot on the Moon — or any other world outside of our own, for that matter — since Cernan and Schmitt departed the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. That will make 40 years on that date this coming December. And despite dreams of moon bases and lunar colonies, there hasn’t even [...]

Should we pay another visit to the Moon? (From “Le Voyage Dans La Lune” by Georges Méliès, 1902)Humans haven’t set foot on the Moon — or any other world outside of our own, for that matter — since Cernan and Schmitt departed the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. That will make 40 years on that date this coming December. And despite dreams of moon bases and lunar colonies, there hasn’t even been a controlled landing there since the Soviet Luna 24 sample return mission in 1976 (not including impacted probes.) So in light of the challenges and costs of such an endeavor, is there any real value in a return to the Moon?Some scientists are saying yes.(...)Read the rest of Is It Time to Return to the Moon? (663 words)© Jason Major for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Post ...