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Sep 14 • 10 tweets • 6 min read
With NASA, SpaceX and the China National Space Administration leading a surge of missions to the moon, we’re entering a new era of lunar exploration. Here’s what is special about this moment – and why it is happening newscientist.com/article/233733…
You may have heard recently that China’s Chang’e 5 mission has discovered a new mineral on the moon that could potentially be used as a source of power

It caused so much excitement that the country has announced three new missions to the moon space.com/china-new-luna…
Meanwhile, the US has been trying to launch its new moon rocket, Space Launch System #SLS

After two failed attempts, the next attempt could be on later this month newscientist.com/article/233547… NASA’s Space Launch System ...
All this is part of a wider push to return to the moon

The question is, after so many years, why now?
newscientist.com/definition/apo…
If you ask @NASA, it says its principle rationale is that returning to the moon is a vital precursor for a trip to Mars, where it wants to send astronauts by the late 2030s
newscientist.com/article/233551… The MOXIE experiment landed...
NASA’s big lunar programme is called #Artemis (@NASAArtemis) and the plans could hardly be more ambitious

They involve returning people to the moon by 2025 Artist’s impression of Arte...
Beyond that, they include a space station in lunar orbit, rovers on the moon, and eventually a long term base there complete with a power grid and perhaps even a nuclear power plant

newscientist.com/article/233734… What a moon base might look...
It’s not just the US that plans to go back to the moon

China has said it wants to do likewise. Russia has also said it will collaborate with China to build a sprawling moon base staffed by robots for scientific research The north pole of the moon ...
Inevitably, this has also led some military observers to worry about the potential for conflict on the moon between these rival Earth powers

newscientist.com/article/0-why-…
@DittmarML at @Axiom_Space says the renewed thrust to send people back to the moon is just human nature: our species loves to explore

Learn more about humanity’s ambitious plans for lunar exploration: newscientist.com/article/233733…

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