“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” These were the historic words of Neil Armstrong in the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon. It was one of humanity’s achievements. But with all the ceremony and pageantry of the mission, the final human touch to the face of the moon came in 1972 on Apollo 17 with Eugene Cernan. The intervening years were spent with the moon dormant beneath man’s domination, and the question was why did man abandon the moon frontier, and how does he recapture it? The Apollo program was engineering, a gamble, and geopolitics.
From 1969 to 1972, six missions landed on the moon successfully, enabling twelve astronauts to walk on the moon’s surface and bring back 842 pounds of moon material. The program cost $112 to $146 billion in today’s dollars, an astronomical figure which absorbed as much as almost 4% of the U.S. federal budget at its height. But the Cold War provided political and economic fuel for the Apollo fire. As then NASA chief historian Roger Launius once said, “It stopped because it was over, first and foremost. They could have stopped at Apollo 11 and declared victory.” Once the Soviet Union had really lost the Space Race, the moon had any geopolitical significance as a prize. The price of Apollo was too expensive.
NASA’s budget had come to its low point by early in the 1970s, and more than ever the space agency was being urged to yield to other interests. Money from the federal treasury was pulled away by domestic economic concerns, the Vietnam War, and economic considerations. The two missions planned to fly, Apollo 18 and Apollo 19, were canceled by dint of the cutbacks. Apollo mission objectives have been achieved, NASA’s 1973 budget request claimed categorically, “The planned objectives of the Apollo program have been accomplished. FY 1974 funding is not required.” NASA’s budget remains less than 1% of federal expenditures, well short of the Apollo days. Aside from budgetary reasons, the moon itself is breathtakingly demanding. Moon dust, or regolith, is a corrosive abrasive toxic substance which ruined Apollo era hardware and produced “lunar hay fever” effects on astronauts.
As described by Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the gunpowder aroma of smoldering lunar soil was the cause of its adverse health impacts on humans. Pulmonary physiologist Kim Prisk warned, “Particles 50 times smaller than a human hair can hang around for months inside your lungs. The longer the particle stays, the greater the chance for toxic effects.” Regolith’s electrostatically charged erosive particulates can penetrate suits, seals, and even human cells, hazards to be avoided on future visits. With manned lunar missions to brag about nonexistent, robotic technologies have grown explosively. NASA’s rovers and probes have traveled to Mars, the asteroid belt, and even beyond our solar system.
The International Space Station, however, has been the human world’s primary space research platform. The ISS since 1998 has provided a platform on which to base experiments ranging from biology to materials science. Since the ISS’s expiration date of 2030, space agencies have started looking for other means of funding further space exploration. The NASA Artemis mission will have humans returning to the moon in the second half of the 2020s, but not just for a fleeting visit. It will instead make a permanent presence.
The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft will be employed by the Artemis missions.Orion spacecraft is aimed at facilitating longer space travel. The ultimate aim of the program is to construct Gateway, a space station near the moon, and make way for subsequent missions to Mars. But Artemis has also experienced delays, such as issues with the SLS and the heat shield on Orion failing on flight to test in 2022. The mission to send humans to the moon, Artemis III, was pushed back to 2027. As NASA grapples with budget and technical challenges, China has emerged as a serious contender. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has a plan to put Chinese astronauts on the moon in 2030 by launching an accelerated program with new spacesuits, lunar rovers, and heavy lift rocket.
China’s moon mission is but one piece of its broader ambitions to establish an International Lunar Research Station and, with it, mine resources such as ice for life support and rocket fuel. As space historian Sean O’Keefe put it, “Two years ago, I would not have said that, but they are really improving to the point that [the 2030] objective is conceivable.” This geopolitical danger of the new Space Race runs deep. Unlike the Soviet American rivalry of the Apollo era, CNSA NASA rivalry embodies more profound competitions between autocratic and democratic nations. NASA’s Artemis Accords, which have been subscribed to by 36 countries, are open and cooperation driven international partnerships, while China’s lunar missions are state led.
American University emeritus professor Howard McCurdy stated, “We certainly got more interested in going to the moon when they announced they were going to put Chinese astronauts on the moon.” Returning to the moon is not prestige it’s the start of becoming a multi planetary species. Harvestable lunar material like ice and minerals can energize exploration and make Mars expeditions feasible. But the way to the future is not free of obstacles, from toxic regolith to geo political conflicts.
As Eugene Cernan himself so eloquently put it during Apollo 17, “America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon… we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind” American or Chinese will be the next time there is a foot on the moon’s surface, but it will be the beginning of a new era of space exploration either way. How NASA no longer heads to the moon, the sheer success of the Apollo missions, and the danger of moon dust are all highlighted and propel this tale of drive, determination, and renewal.
