NASA
“I’m on the surface, and, as I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I’d like to just [say] what I believe history will record. That America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And as we leave the moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17.”
THOSE words, spoken by astronaut Gene Cernan on 14 December 1972, aren’t nearly as famous as Neil Armstrong’s “giant leap for mankind”. But as we gear up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing this July, they have a certain pathos. The last words spoken on the moon came just three-and-a-bit years after the first. Since they were uttered, humanity hasn’t ventured beyond near-Earth orbit. Our aspiration to reach for the stars – or at least the nearer bits of outer space – was over almost as soon as it began.
Just lately, however, space is looking a little crowded again. National space agencies and private companies in the US, China, Japan, India, Israel and elsewhere are vying to send uncrewed missions to the moon, Mars and beyond. In the US, one of the two original space powers, the stated aim is to send humans back to the moon by 2024. Other countries are making serious noises about permanent space bases, too. So why this space boom, and why now? And crucially – are we ready for it?
The original space race was simple to…
