NASA, humans will live on the moon early this decade

A senior NASA official told the BBC that in the next few years, the American space organization had in mind the goal of not only returning humans to the moon, but also making some of them live there.

A milestone that will set new historical goals for civilization, all the “children” of the ambitious hopes that NASA has for its Artemis program.

Live on the moon by 2030

Howard is He is the person who supervises the Orion spacecraft used in the Artemis programme. and in BBC interview She announced that NASA is already aiming within “this decade” to bring humans permanently on our satellite.

It’s going to take a lot of effort if that’s the goal: the unmanned mission Artemis 1 It launched this week after months of delays. In the test flight (which will lead to lunar orbit) 3 “dummies” will participate, which will allow an assessment of exposure to space radiation.

Unexpected permission, in just over a year (in 2024) Artemis 2 will take humans into lunar orbit, and one year, Artemis 3 will put more humans foot and flag on the Moon again. 2025, in short, New Year Zero. How far would you go from there to a lunar base?

Also, on the humans’ journey to Mars?

Humans haven’t set foot on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission. It was 1972, and I hadn’t even been born yet.

The giant Artemis program (with an estimated cost of $ 93 billion) has been implemented for years with the aim of establishing a human presence on the surface of the moon before. Travel to Mars.

Hu told the BBC that the main aim would be to explore the south pole of the moon to determine if there is water there. helium 3water and regolith It may be the three pillars that human exploration of the universe will establish, starting with the red planet.

And when the Artemis 1 mission’s Orion capsule returns to Earth (or, if you prefer, will dive into the ocean) on December 11, it’s already time to think about the consequences.

The new space race is more open than ever

The renewed interest in space missions has unleashed a new space race, which is no longer just public, but on the contrary: with huge infusions of money and private activities.

omission Elon Musk so is it SpaceX He is already involved in these important months, and he is also a founder Virgo galaxyAnd the Richard Branson, visited space on July 11 last year. A few days later, also on July 20 Jeff Bezosfounder of Amazon e blue originClimb there.

Who knows if this competition will really get us going, and not just fuel, to plant the first “habitat” for humans on the moon.