The Next Mission to the Moon

The next mission to the moon

Since 1961, more than 400 human beings have ventured into space. Now aboard the International Space Station, astronauts are working to improve life on Earth and extend life beyond our home planet.

On July 20 1969 the first man stepped on the moon. During the next 3 years 6 missions to the moon was made and a total of 12 astronauts walked on the moon. One of the missions Apollo 13 failed and they had to return.

The first men who walked on the moon were Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin on board of the Apollo 11. The last men were Harrison Schmitt, Ronald Evans and Eugene Cernan.

Now the NASA is planning how to bring human beings back to the moon.

How they'll Get Back to the Moon

Before the end of the next decade, NASA astronauts will again explore the surface of the moon. And this time, they're going to stay, building outposts and paving the way for eventual journeys to Mars and beyond.

This journey begins soon, with development of a new spaceship. Building on the best of Apollo and shuttle technology, NASA's creating a 21st century exploration system that will be affordable, reliable, versatile, and safe.

The centerpiece of this system is a new spacecraft designed to carry four astronauts to and from the moon, can support up to six crewmembers on future missions to Mars, and deliver crew and supplies to the International Space Station.

The new crew vehicle will be shaped like an Apollo capsule, but it will be three times larger, allowing four astronauts to travel to the moon at a time.

The new spacecraft has solar panels to provide power, and both the capsule and the lunar lander use liquid methane in their engines. Why methane? As you already should know methane can be transformed into fuel and NASA is thinking ahead, planning for a day when future astronauts can convert Martian atmospheric resources into methane fuel.

The new ship can be reused up to 10 times. After the craft parachutes to dry land (with a splashdown as a backup option), NASA can easily recover it, replace the heat shield and launch it again.

Coupled with the new lunar lander, the system sends twice as many astronauts to the surface as Apollo, and they can stay longer, with the initial missions lasting four to seven days. And while Apollo was limited to landings along the moon's equator, the new ship carries enough propellant to land anywhere on the moon's surface.

Once a lunar outpost is established, crews could remain on the lunar surface for up to six months. The spacecraft can also operate without a crew in lunar orbit, eliminating the need for one astronaut to stay behind while others explore the surface.

Safe and reliable

The launch system that will get the crew off the ground builds on powerful, reliable shuttle propulsion elements. Astronauts will launch on a rocket made up of a single shuttle solid rocket booster, with a second stage powered by a shuttle main engine.

A second, heavy-lift system

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