When the Artemis mission was announced in 2017, lunar scientists and aerospace engineers were both ecstatic and cautious. While returning to the Moon would be an incredible accomplishment, it is also a bold and risky venture. But while experts in the field were already hard at work preparing for the 2025 Moon landing, the response by the general public could be summed up in a single dominant emotion: confusion.
Why were humans suddenly planning to return to the Moon, when for the better part of a decade exploration seemed to be leading towards Mars? Haven’t we already been to the Moon during the Apollo Era? What is the point of going back? Is the Moon really necessary as a waypoint towards future martian exploration, or is it a costly pitstop that should be avoided altogether?
These are all valid questions, and ones that NASA has dutifully attempted to address since the inception of the Artemis program. Humans are still many decades from walking around on martian soil. Traveling that far away from Earth (a whopping 230 million miles, almost a thousand times farther than the Moon is from Earth), requires careful preparation to sustain human life. The Moon offers an oasis in space where astronauts can practice the skills they will need once on Mars.
But beyond the need for an astronaut training ground, I (and many planetary scientists like me) would argue that the Moon is a fascinating world worthy of further exploration in its own right. Its ability to act as a launchpad for further human exploration is an added bonus to the incredible scientific opportunities that it provides. And it seems like the world is starting to agree.
Interest in lunar exploration has skyrocketed in the last decade, with many countries across the globe setting their sights on the Moon. On August 23rd, 2023, India joined a small but growing group of countries that have successfully landed spacecraft on the Moon. The Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, led by the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO), landed in an unexplored region near the lunar south pole. While the United States, the USSR, and China have all successfully landed spacecraft on the Moon, India becomes the first to land in the south polar region.
India’s recent success is a global achievement that hammers home the point of view that many scientists have staunchly defended for decades: the Moon is vast, largely unexplored, and rich with scientific opportunities. The south pole region that Chandrayaan-3 recently landed in is thought to be some of the oldest terrain on the lunar surface, potentially offering clues about the Moon’s formation and evolution over its 4.5 billion year lifetime. The discoveries waiting to be made in the south pole region could redefine our understanding of the early solar system.
So as we enter this new phase of lunar exploration, I’m encouraged to see public enthusiasm building. I’m excited for new space agencies on the global stage to make their mark on the lunar surface. I’m ready for our understanding of the Moon to be forever changed by the scientific discoveries we make there. And I’m hopeful that the success of lunar missions in this decade will lead to a sustained interest and investment in lunar exploration for generations to come.
