It’s such an incredible accomplishment that, after achieving it a few times, we just sort of stopped and thought, “okay, that’s enough.”
It’s surprising that we don’t have a bigger presence on the moon yet.
Back in the 70s, people were likely dreaming up all kinds of future lunar possibilities: moon tourism, perhaps a theme park or even a casino!
To this day, the fact that NASA managed to get 12 people on the moon still stands as one of the greatest feats achieved by the space agency, and perhaps by humanity as a whole.
There are still plenty of reasons to head back to that dusty rock in the sky, and NASA has plans to send American astronauts there again by around late 2026.
Well, according to astronaut Jim Bridenstine, who led NASA during the Donald Trump era, the barriers are neither scientific nor technological.
In a 2018 conversation with reporters, he explained:
“The program took too long and it costs too much money.”
For instance, NASA’s budget for 2023 is $25.4 billion, and the Biden administration has proposed increasing this to $27.2 billion for 2024.
While this might seem substantial, the funds are divided across all of NASA’s divisions and their ambitious projects.
Moreover, with the funding coming from the government, Congress can be slow to approve budgets, which in turn slows down progress.
During a 2015 discussion, he mentioned: “Manned exploration is the most expensive space venture and, consequently, the most difficult for which to obtain political support.
Furthermore, other astronauts have observed that promises made by one president regarding budget increases may not be upheld, as new presidents can simply ignore the commitments made by their predecessors.
