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

The driving force

There's no doubt the cost in returning to the moon will be high. Nasa's current plan to return by 2020 will soak up the majority of its funding for years to come; in 2010 they will ditch the aging (and expensive) shuttle fleet to concentrate their efforts. Yet it may well be the economy that drives the return, as Schmitt explains: 'I think it's going to be a largely private sector activity, driven principally by environmental and energy demands here on Earth. I suspect that once a good business plan has been put together and the financial community have had a chance to look at that plan we'll start to see a movement towards a return to the moon, driven by the private sector. Hopefully governments won't get involved. Governments won't need to finance such a project, it will pay for itself.'

Or perhaps the crux of future human space exploration, lunar and beyond, will be the desire to explore, driven by the quest to learn. As Cernan believes: 'I've got ultimate faith that somewhere out there is a young boy or girl with the indomitable will and courage that's going to accept the challenge of taking us back to the moon, and even better take us on to Mars. There's no question that's going to happen.' This will is something robots can't express or appreciate, as the last man on the moon puts it: 'Have you ever seen a tickertape parade for a robot in New York City? No! That's the big difference.'

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In the Shadow of the Moon >

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