When Will We Explore Again?

On December 14, 1972, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt departed from the surface of the Moon, to join up again with Ron Evans in the Command/Service Module, and begin the  5 day journey back home. Many people thought humans would return to the Moon soon. Carl Sagan predicted that we would have a lunar base by the 1980s, and be exploring Mars by the year 2000. However, the Space Race was won. The funding dried up and the Apollo program ended early. When humans enter space now, we go 200 miles up to the International Space Station in low Earth orbit. When will we explore again? 

Exploration of the Moon on Apollo 17. All of the Apollo images are now on Flicker. Check them out!

The good news is that humans do not always have to be physically present to explore. I have written many times about the robotic missions exploring our Solar System. The New Horizons mission to Pluto is a great example of how much we can learn from a robot that we send to a distant place as our emissary. There are many many robots exploring the Solar System right now!

Check out all the current robotic missions! Image Credit: Olaf Frohn

But when will humans explore again? Will we visit Mars? NASA says they are going to send humans to Mars by the 2030s, but some are concerned that the budget is not large enough to accomplish that feat. The Planetary Society has a plan for sending humans to Mars within the current budget. Check it out at their Humans Orbiting Mars website. And if you want to dream we are already exploring there, come see The Martian at the Peoria Riverfront Museum's Giant Screen Theater.

What about the Moon? Will we ever return? Google is trying to spur innovation and private space exploration with the Google Lunar X Prize. They will award $20 million to the first team that successfully launches a robot to the Moon. To win the money, the robot has to land, travel 500 meters, and transmits back video and audio to Earth. The team also has to be 90% privately funded. The deadline to win the competition is the end of 2017.

Just last week, the Israeli team SpaceIL announced that they had signed a contract to launch their rover on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the second half of 2017. They are the first team to produce a verifiable launch contract - a huge step towards the Moon! There are many teams competing - let's hope more secure funding for launch. 

You can learn more about the Lunar X Prize in the Dome Planetarium's feature show, Back to the Moon for Good, now playing.