“Soon we’ll have people on the moon again – but why?”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the nearest celestial body. If all goes according to plan, in three years we will have people on the moon again with the help of the Artemis program.

NASA is once again preparing to take humans to the moon. On Saturday, the Artemis 1 mission will take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an unmanned spaceflight.

The program – named after Artemis from Greek mythology, the twin sister of Apollo – consists of several steps. The first step is to test all the new systems (Orion space capsule, SLS rocket, etc.) that have been included in order to be able to make manned flights both around the Moon and to the Moon for later landings.

However, many are unsure of the significance of the Artemis program. Why should man actually go back to the moon? We were there fifty years ago, right?

For me, the answer is obvious: because we can. That science is ever capable of achieving something like a trip to the moon is in itself a reason to do so, even if we’ve done it before. But I can understand that arguments of the “cool” type are not enough for everyone. So let’s go over some of the reasons NASA gave us, among others, to go to the moon again.

What is the purpose of another lunar program?

One of the reasons for the new lunar program is the research purpose, to learn more about the moon, our planet and our solar system. There will be a lot of field studies, both by robots and astronauts. Among other things, the Moon’s south pole will be examined for the first time, and researchers will search for water and learn to use the resources available on other celestial bodies.

In addition to research that can be conducted on the moon, this time NASA aims to maintain its presence on the celestial body. This is by building a lunar base to facilitate subsequent trips into space and eventually to other planets. With the growing interest in going to Mars, information on long stays in space, among other things, could be vital.

Space travel has often been an inspiration, something people gather around, something larger that provides perspective on everyday struggles and controversies. Inspiration is something that has been highlighted this time as well, an inspiration to the next generation of people and researchers. The Artemis Program is also a huge collaborative project between states, states and private actors.

The Apollo program brought home a total of 382 kilograms of the Moon in the form of samples of rock, gravel, sand, and dust. These samples were analyzed in batches The last samples that were kept untouched this year are unlocked Waiting for better analysis tools and the right opportunity. So going home, or immediately analyzing more of our closest neighbors is another thing Artemis can help us with.

The indirect purpose of the Artemis program is that it is likely that technology and tools will be developed in the meantime that will ultimately benefit life on Earth. many things we Developed uses in everyday life in connection with space travelIncluding LED lights, CT scans, and freeze-dried foods.

Thus, there are a number of reasons why humans go to the moon, reasons that may also benefit life on Earth in the long run. So it’s just a matter of choosing which one you like best, because at the moment manned flights to the moon seem to be disappearing. If those purposes are not enough, you can try to think like me, that sometimes we have to do great things for a simple reason that we can do. After all, our time in the universe is very short.

Follow the postponement here

Here you can follow the planned postponement, which will happen on Saturday 3rd September at 20:17 Swedish time (2:17 PM EST). Postponement has a potential time window of two hours.