CAN PRIVATE SPACE-FLIGHT COMPANIES TAKE US BACK TO THE MOON?

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That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. source

It has been 49 years since we've heard those words from the American astronaut and engineer Neil Armstrong, ever since, man's exploration in space has gradually declined over the years.

I'm sure the older generation must have imagined space colonies by now, given the tremendous success of the Apollo 11 mission, everything seemed possible and science was on an uptrend.

We were able to see our own reflection from the vast region of space, the success of the moon landing had a ripple effect on our technology and our environmental consciousness.

The one thing that is constant with technology is "The bigger the goal the greater the reward", There've been several accidental discoveries and technology that was achieved though Grandious or Seemingly Over-achieving scientific goals.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME WE WENT TO THE MOON

The Apollo mission gifted us with some important technologies that we still use until today. One of them can be found in the computer industry.

During planning for the moon landing, computers tend to fill up entire rooms, which wasn't feasible onboard a weight conscious spacecraft.

A new type of Computer made up of Integrated circuits was proposed by MIT and funded by NASA.

By 1963, MIT had ordered and consumed some 60% of the then world's available IC's ! It was this early NASA/MIT Apollo requirement that helped spur the computer industry into further development source.

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New Planetary discoveries were made after the moon landing, we were able to gain more understanding of the moon and the planets surrounding us.

For instance, samples of moon rocks were taken and we learned that the moon is also a planet like earth, with rocks as old as the earth itself.

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A non-radioactive element called Helium-3 was also discovered on the moon. It can be harvested for clean and efficient energy which can go a long way in solving global environmental issues we face today.

The moon landing also caused a tidal wave of Innovative inspiration and human unity.
Several innovations can be traced back to the moon landing.

According to Guinness world record, about 600 million people watched the first moon landing. The much celebrated Earth's day was created after the moon landing.

You would also observe that I use the word "we" a lot in this article. That is because the moon landing till today is seen as an achievement for the whole humanity, not just a country.

WHY HAVEN'T WE GONE BACK

If space explorations can give birth to Technological Inspirations and discoveries then why haven't we gone back? one of the major reasons is; lack of funding.

The final cost of Apollo was reported to Congress as $25.4 billion in 1973. source

According to Inflation calculator that is at least $140 billion today.

As you can see in the graph, gradually over the years, NASA's funding has been reduced and controlled. The cost of manned space missions became unfortunately too high to maintain.

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International politics and change of priority also contributed to our decreased space explorations.

During the cold war, with the impending threats of international ballistic missiles and nuclear apocalypse, there arose a competition for space dominance between the USA and the USSR. This spawned a lot of discoveries and innovations on both sides.

After the cold war ended, both parties with drained budget had to draw back funds to space explorations.

HOW PRIVATE COMPANIES CAN IGNITE OUR SPACE EXPLORATIONS ONCE AGAIN

As shown above, the Federal budget of NASA has significantly decreased over the years, NASA became clogged with politics, draining budget and old space shuttles.

After NASA had two space-shuttle crashed that killed seven astronauts in 2003, an opportunity arose for Private companies with more robust budgets and modern technology to swoop in.

The following year, Private space flight was legalized and signed into law, this prompted major investments from the private sector into space missions.

By 2013, ten billionaires had already invested heavily into different private space companies(SpaceX, Blue origin, Stratolaunch, etc).

All of a sudden there arose another competition between these companies but this time not motivated by war or international politics but by capitalism and innovation.

Just recently, A major victory in the space competition was achieved by SpaceX(founded by Elon Musk). They created the first reusable rocket powerful enough to launch a satellite into space and land back on earth.

This innovation is able to cut down the cost of space travel noticeably, It has been able to solve the budget problem which crippled NASA's space explorations.

Surely, we can already see another manned space voyage on the horizon.

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, revealed on Monday that two people have paid for a private mission around the moon, tentatively set for launch in 2018 with the private company’s yet untested Falcon Heavy rocket source

Elon Musk has proven himself to be a visionary with a lofty goal to take humans to Mars.

I can definitely see another Human footprint stepping on the Moon one day.

I'm also certain that just like the Apollo mission, the SpaceX mission is going to gift us with so many side discoveries and innovations.

For instance, the Dragon eye navigational and sensor systems of SpaceX rockets can be applied in the automobile and robotics industry.

Thanks for reading.

Image sources from pixabay/wikipedia

References
https://wikipedia.org/apollo-program
https://www.nasa.gov.cold-war
https://airandspace.si.edu
https://history.nasa.gov.budget