50 Years After the Mission to the Moon: What Now?

The events of July 20th, 1969, will go down in history as one of the most remarkable achievements of the entire human race: the first mission to the moon aka moon landing. This date marked the successful completion of the first manned mission to the moon. And it seemed to come at a time when spaceflight was just taking shape.

On this day, a large percentage of Americans turned to their TV screens to witness the making of history as Apollo 11 landed successfully. It was a mission to the moon that will be talked about to the centuries to come.

While the world was still celebrating this achievement, another milestone was recorded. Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon the next day, becoming the first man to do so. These two landmark achievements inspired the spaceflight industry and ignited a fire of passion among young aspiring astronauts.

Did the human race lose interest in the moon? Of course, NOT!

The whole world is marking the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. And there’s just one question on everybody’s lips that doesn’t seem to have the right answer yet. Why did we stop traveling to the moon?

Human’s maiden voyage to the moon seemed like an opportunity for an exploration that will be embraced with both hands. But fifty years after, it looks like an abandoned project that nobody is ready to undertake. After the Apollo 11 mission, the closest we have gone to the moon was in 1972.

There could only be two reasons: Cost and Political Hurdles

After the successful completion of the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 mission to the moon in 1969 and 1972 respectively, you would wonder what it takes to abandon a successful project suddenly.
Did we lose interest?
Was it too expensive?
Were there some untold obstacles along the way?

We wouldn’t know. But one thing that we know is that NASA planned to send some people back to the moon at some point. This means that the moon is still a big part of our plan, and we are not deserting our natural satellite yet.
Moreover, the spaceflight business is really booming these days, thanks to investments from the big guns in the private sector. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, I’m looking at you not looking at the moon landing.
So now, it is safe to say that budgetary and political barriers are what’s keeping us away from the moon.

Private sector leads the quest for the next historical adventure to the moon

We have high hopes that private firms like Elon Musk’s SpaceX may eventually break the hurdle sooner rather than later. And whoever does, we just can’t wait to see humans step their foot back on the welcoming soil of the moon.