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Between 1969 and 1972, Black Sabbath released four albums and astronauts landed on the moon six times, making it a pretty awesome time to be either a space enthusiast or a metal head. Yet while the Sabbath releases continued on into the mid-90s, missions to the moon abruptly ended.
Nearly 40 years have passed since Apollo 17, our last journey to the moon. Sure, President George W. Bush talked up a return trip, but President Obama's plans for NASA don't seem to include jaunts to the Sea of Tranquility.
So are we going back to the moon? You bet we are.
Mack Trucks and Bicycles
"I see humans absolutely returning to the moon eventually," says William Pomerantz, senior director of the Google X Prize foundation. "I don’t foresee it happening in the 2010s, but it's moderately likely in the 2020s."
Why do we stand to place a good half-century gap between our manned lunar programs? The main reason, according to Moon Society President Peter Kokh, comes down to the technology we have to get there.
"When NASA was given the mandate by Kennedy to win the space race, it was necessary to design a space transportation architecture, which makes no sense at all if you’re going to be going back repeatedly and building up a large space outpost," Kokh says.
Such a delivery system, according to Kokh, results only in "flags and footprints." Plus, as Pomerantz adds, they're a long time coming.
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