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Originally Posted by wtwo3
A lot of folks ask "why now?" in regards to going back to the moon and why we haven't been back in so long.
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You bring up an important question that remains unanswered.
Why now - not clear. Other than the fact that ISS is going end-of-life (and motivation behind it went stale decades ago), NASA needed to do something. Anything.
And revisiting the Moon was as creative of an answer as they managed to come up with and get funded.
There is really no other reason.
The project is kinda cool, though it lacks the technological clout that Apollo represented ~50 years ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wtwo3
Well this isn't the first time we have tried going back to the moon. In the early 2000s George Bush signed an order for us to return to the moon by 2020 (project constellation). That was later cancelled by Obama due to the program going significantly over budget and multiple delays (it was severely underfunded to begin with). So how are we managing this now? Well there's a renewed motivation - potential for water at the south pole of the moon - and the more likely culprit - a space race with China as they've indicated a goal to get humans on the moon by 2030.
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Similar to how Apollo's aim was to get to the Moon before the Russians did, Artemis re-boot is to do it before the Chinese got around to it?
We are sort-of guessing here, because neither NASA nor the last few administrations ever coherently articulated why we are doing Artemis. Other than it's "something" NASA could do other than ISS.
Are we still doing the Gateway station?
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Originally Posted by M_Six
I think private industry will be the next entity to land people on the moon.
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Not without a business case, they wont.
The only entity that has enough tech to do it is SpaceX, and they have shown little interest in any of this. Beyond whatever it is that NASA pays them to deliver.
Musk is into Mars, and orbital data centers, as of late.
Quote:
Originally Posted by M_Six
there is helium-3, which is crucial for fusion energy. The goal is to beat the Chinese to the south pole before they claim it and defend it like sovereign territory. Lunar mining is going to be a thing in the not too distant future.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M_Six
This time around it's all about commercial gain. Mining for precious metals and helium-3. If/when it becomes common to travel to the moon, it'll also become another reason to fight amongst ourselves.  |
The only problem with the above statement is that US has shown minimal interest in fusion reactor research. While fusion reactor physics are starting to produce marginal net positive energy gain, the commercial-grade fusion reactors are decades away. At best.
Suggesting that US needs lunar fuel for the reactors US is not seriously pursuing is a bit of a stretch.
Net-net - I am happy that we (the US) is doing something no-one else can pull off, other than bombing 3rd world countries.
Even if the reasons for Artemis are poorly communicated or even remotely realistic.
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