Have you ever wondered, when will we get to the moon again ? It has been Fifty Three years since the last man had stepped foot on the moon. Surely we could go even further. In this article, I will explain, How, Who, and When we will go back to the Lunar Surface.
There are three possibilities, Blue Origin, Spacex and Artemis.
Artemis is a scheme with the Space Launch System ( SLS), to launch with the Orion command module, made by NASA and a service module made by the ESA( European space agency) . The Orion module is to dock at a space station called the Lunar gateway, which will be constructed in Low Moon Orbit. From there, a lander will undock, and land in a camp on a moon. This is very possible, as the first test flight of the SLS has been launched, and recovered just a few months back. Once the mission has been completed, the capsule would splash down in the Pacific ocean, to be recovered by a US Navy Amphibious Assault ship.
SpaceX is running a program that is hopefully going to send astronauts, including the first female to the surface of the moon. They were planning to use the Falcon Heavy , though the project has changed from the Heavy, to the BFR, which is the rocket which is nicknamed Starship. The Starship will be able to fly directly to the moon, dock to another refuelling starship, which will land back on Earth. Once the Starship has landed, and completed its mission, it will launch, re-enter and land on a pad, in the US. When it launches, it will be connected to a booster, which is also reusable, and after it is not needed, too landing on a pad back in the US. NASA has just given the necessary funding, and a contract to send this into space, so hopefully Us, and Elon will get to see this monster launch. I cannot wait !
Blue origin’s chances look very slim, as they have not yet started building the rocket. It works just like spacex, with a booster landing back down on earth. It is fully reusable like the Starship as well. Blue Origin has a suborbital rocket which takes passengers on small flights, but the rocket they are planning to shoot for the moon, has not been guaranteed to ever launch. Who knows, it could still happen !
Other countries, like the People's republic of China, and Russia may work together as well in the future for more projects. China already has a space station in Low Earth Orbit, which may pave the way for future Projects.
Many classes of astronauts have been selected for future missions, and have started training on various mockups. The crew who will be going to the moon include many firsts, like, for example, the First Woman on the moon, and even the Youngest to step foot on the lunar surface. The estimated date of the next launch would be in the launch window of 2024.
Thank you for reading
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