The first human to set foot on the lunar surface in more than five decades could do so sooner than you think.Last week, US President Donald Trump signed a new executive order outlining an expedited timetable for NASA’s plans to send humans back to the Moon as part of its ongoing Artemis program.
Next year, Artemis II will see its first astronauts venture around the Moon and back again, while the first manned landing on the Moon since the Apollo era could now happen as early as 2028.
This would, according to the order:
“Assert American leadership in space, lay the foundations for lunar economic development, prepare for the journey to Mars, and inspire the next generation of American explorers.
But the plans go even further than that – demanding that NASA set up the “initial elements of a permanent lunar outpost” by as soon as 2030.
There are also plans to place nuclear reactors both in Earth’s orbit and on the lunar surface.
Trump himself is clearly hoping to see American astronauts walking on the Moon both during his tenure and before China manages to beat them to it.
That said, delays are still likely given that the new lunar lander vehicle – which is being developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX – is not yet ready and we haven’t really seen anything about it at all.
It seems more likely that, while Artemis II will likely go ahead next year as planned, Artemis III (the actual landing) will be pushed back to 2030 and the outpost plans pushed back to beyond that.
Whatever happens, the US will need to get a move on as the threat from China is very real.
Whether the next person to walk on the Moon will be American or Chinese still remains to be seen.
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