21st of July, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the very first American astronaut to walk on the moon. It was a historic moment for the United States, and also for the rest of the world. The cold war has been raging, and stakes were high for achievements in space exploration with the then Soviet Union. However, the return of American astronauts to the moon has been a hesitant topic. It would take loads of money and would be a difficult project. Now, more than 50 years later, a return to the moon is widely debated. Many people dismiss the importance of the moon and think that all those billions of dollars are not worth it. However, it is not the case. The moon is an important “testing area” for the expansion of our kind. So, the final question is, why should we explore the moon? By taking into account historical factors, scientific reasoning and more, we can back the reason why we should aim for the moon again.
In 1969, the politics around the cold war determined that going to the moon would prove which country had the best economy, science, and technology, which still applies today in one way or another. President John F. Kennedy said himself that “The mission was clear: the United States must go to the Moon.”. After the landing on the moon, there were some clear benefits in this mission. According to the article, The Importance of the Moon Landing by Laurel Spring School, “ It paved the way for others to study space travel and cooperative efforts have now given us the International Space Station.” They also add that it inspired other scientists. The Apollo program, which was the program in 1960 that aimed to send astronauts to the moon, created benefits for 6, 300 inventions (American Public University), which included some of the things we use in our daily lives, such as microwaves and air treatment. In recent times, the Artemis Program has been funded to help Americans return to the moon and also go to Mars this decade. This program has thrived in the American economy, creating 71.2 billion dollars and 37, 000 jobs nationwide. Also, according to NASA, exploring the moon is very important, as it helps test out “test technologies, flight capabilities, life support systems, and exploration techniques to reduce the risks and increase the productivity of future missions” in a space that is lower risk and closer to the earth. It can aid our development into other planets in the universe. Now and then, aiming for the moon was always in our best interest.
As most may know, the moon is not a suitable living space, and therefore some may dismiss exploring it as “wasteful” or even “fruitless” without truly understanding how much it may help us. Even though we can not live there, we can obtain a lot of valuable research and interesting data from landing on it. For example, while on the moon, astronauts need to be kept healthy in a lower gravity, higher radiation space. According to NASA this “benefits to all humans are tremendous in terms of prevention and treatment of bone and muscle loss and some cancers.” According to the Wikipedia page about the moon, solar power, oxygen, and metals are only some of the many resources on the moon. It is a reliable place to get more resources if we run out, which is likely with the current rate of development. Others talk about landing astronauts on Mars, which has an even larger sum of money needed: 230 billion dollars. However, it is important to note that we cannot go to Mars without going to the moon. The moon, as mentioned above, is an asset when exploring Mars. This is only one of the many reasons why the moon should be explored again.
The weak economy has always held the moon project back during the recent years, and some experts have already proposed NASA to take part in less ambitious projects such as exploring asteroids. The moon project did not fit into the federal budget, so alterations needed to be made in order to achieve something less expensive. However, cutting expenses and restraining space exploration with a budget is not in the best interest of mankind. Doing so would eliminate many opportunities to explore Mars. Even though technologies to go to Mars can be tested with asteroids, the moon will always be the most effective place to do it. The safety, wellbeing, and the results of astronauts exploring Mars relies on how much we put into preparatory work such as exploring the moon. If the federal government does not give NASA enough money, there is very little chance that we would succeed on Mars, as we would need to establish a base on the moon. Mars is somewhere we need to explore, as exploring it with actual humans will answer questions we have about life and also prepare for future human exploration.
In conclusion, going to the moon is much needed for the success of other space explorations. Going to Mars relies on our tests on the moon. Therefore, federal budget restraints and cuts for NASA are uncalled for and a poor idea. In doing so, the government has slowed down space exploration and caused many projects to be stopped. If we can obtain funding to go to the moon, we are even a step closer to mars where many unanswered questions would be answered. Exploring space and the moon will help us scientifically and economically, and is an important part of human development.
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