ASTRONAUT Gene Cernan was the last person to walk on the moon, in 1972. 鈥淎pollo came before its time,鈥� he said. 鈥淧resident Kennedy reached far into the 21st century, grabbed a decade of time and slipped it neatly into the 1960s and 1970s.鈥�
Fifty years later, we have reached that decade of time. Many nations and private enterprises are plotting crewed missions to the moon. This time, it isn鈥檛 merely a race to get there. The intention is to build a lasting presence, as we explore in a special feature.
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You might reasonably ask why, when we have enough problems on Earth, are we spending billions to go back to the moon. If you are Jeff Bezos, you might answer that we need to relieve the ecological pressure on Earth by moving heavy industry off it and onto the moon. It is a nice idea, but it is a long-term prospect and won鈥檛, on its own, save our planet.
If you are NASA, or China鈥檚 space organisations, you might think we need a presence on the moon for political reasons. 鈥淐ontrol of space means control of the world,鈥� said former US president Lyndon Johnson, in shock, when the Soviet Union put Sputnik into orbit.
Elon Musk has said that we need an independent human settlement as insurance for our species if there is a catastrophe on Earth 鈥� but that doesn鈥檛 really wash when we are already facing catastrophe.
But we should go back to the moon for science, to explore, to create knowledge and to learn how to collaborate. The moon is a time capsule, a pristine record of how things were at the start of the solar system. From astronomy to studying the moon鈥檚 water ice, science will be more easily done in person. Once we are there, we will learn to recycle efficiently and use renewable energy, things we should have done years ago on Earth. Once we are there, we will cooperate 鈥� as lunar settlements will need to be diverse and international. We have to ensure that this time, we create a presence on the moon that is a beacon of hope seen by everyone watching back home.
