Return to the Moon

Dr Duncan L Copp

June 2008

Return to the moon | Written in the rocks | A grand observatory | Space resource | A manned return? | The driving force | Find out more

If you're 35 or younger, you weren't alive when the last men walked on the moon. The last mission, Apollo 17, carried US astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. The two moon walkers spent three productive days in mid-December 1972 exploring the lunar surface, collecting samples and conducting an assortment of experiments. Apollo 17 further contributed to the wealth of knowledge the Apollo program had gathered over the three years of manned lunar exploration. But after the frenetic whirlwind that was the Apollo program, save for a few sample-collecting robot missions by the Russians, the moon fell silent again.

For Cernan now, it is quite surprising that he was the last man on the moon: 'We knew even before we flew Apollo 17 that we'd be the last Apollo mission, but I never believed, ever, that I'd be standing here over a quarter of a century later and still be the last man to have walked on the moon. In one sense it tells us what we have not done over the past 35 years as much as it tells us what we have done.'

Today, there is a new community of scientists and explorers who believe a return to the moon is long overdue. Nasa is currently researching large-scale manned exploration of our nearest neighbour as part of its bold 'Constellation' vision, which also accommodates future manned missions to Mars. Yet before we can return there must be a compelling reason to go. The Apollo missions were motivated by the space race with the Russians; beating the Russians to the moon was seen as a valid objective.

Now the political situation is different and there are new motivations. Dr David Heather, who was born after the Apollo 17 mission, is a lunar scientist at the European Space Agency. He believes that 'the moon is the only logical place to go, from the view of establishing long-term outposts for scientific, commercial and economic benefit, and a place in which to acclimatise to permanent living in space.'

So what are the benefits and do they represent a real case for returning to the moon?

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In the Shadow of the Moon >

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