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Reasons we never went back: 1) It was principally a national pride competition between the US and USSR so when the US succeeded there wasn't much of a reason t
by rtkwe 4y ago
Reasons we never went back:
1) It was principally a national pride competition between the US and USSR so when the US succeeded there wasn't much of a reason to go there. We gathered loads of rocks for all the science we could want to do for a long time (they're still cracking open fresh samples to this day).
2) There's not that much economically or scientifically on the moon to really investigate that needs people there we can get new data pretty simply through orbiters or rovers
3) NASA's budget is much smaller portion of the overall budget and it's no longer singularly dedicated to the Moon
4) Longer term stays are much more intensive on resources than the short sprint to the Moon and back done by Apollo. The main goal of the moon now is to use it as a stepping stone to test for a Mars mission.
- galangalalgol 4y agoWe did it last time in a lot less time taking far more risks. I think the majority is the lack of political or economic incentives, but there is something to the idea that our current culture is much more risk averse, and probably less good at "just make it work" projects than it used to be.
- rtkwe 4y agoI think the riskiness is definitely another part of it, though if the will to do it were there I think we could still accept it now. We're definitely moving slowly in part because there's just not a huge reason to go beyond exploration.
- taylodl 4y agoNow we're going back with a plan. Not just to win the space race, but to start laying the foundation for a permanent moon base that we can use as a way point for going to Mars. The financial woes of the 70's combined with the substantial cost overruns of the Shuttle Craft killed Congress' appetite for further investment. Modern technology has substantially lowered the costs so we've revived the idea.
- localplume 4y ago[dead]
- SV_BubbleTime 4y agoAs for a takeoff point to mars… we still need to get all the stuff to the moon, so what exactly is the point there? To refine on site?