Why haven't we returned man to the moon?

Question

There hasn't been a moon landing since the 60s by humans. Why not?

Answer 1

Because the last time we tried (Apollo 13), the astronauts almost didn't make it back. Then we focused our attention on the space shuttle program.

Answer 2

There were 3 more moon walks after the Apollo 11 mission, they were Apollo14, 15 and 16.These went into the 1970s

the last one used a pretty spiffy moon buggy and they played golf.

The only reason we put a man on the moon was to beat the Russians, something that had to be done at all costs because prior to thge moon walk the Russians had beaten America everystep with space travel.

Whilst it was a propaganda coup it cost in todays term billions of tax payers dollars to fund and basically after the moonwalk it was a waste of money.

The moon bought us little in the way of scientific research or value and as we had beaten the Russians there was very little political mileadge.

Also I think the will of the American people started to wain , they startred to find subsequent space programs of littlle interest, the Russians vertually stopped their space program so there was really no further incentive to procede.

In the late 80s there was a docking between an American space ship and the Russian MIR space station and there is now an International space station being built.

The general public dont see any real value in the money it costs and generally it doesnt seem to be going that well.

Since the moon walks America has launched a number of space shuttle orbits in the orbiters like Columbia but there have been some disasters including the one that blew up after takeoff and of course the Columbia disaster.

In the early days astronauts getting blownup on launch pads( like Virgil Grissom) were seen as pioneers and heroes. Today the public ask questions and want answers.

At the end of the day Astronauts are still going into space on several tonnes of equipment still supplied by the lowest bidder.

Answer 3

1) Twelve 12 American astronauts have walked on the moon.

Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin
Apollo 12: Pete Conrad & Alan Bean
Apollo 13: << failed to land on the moon >>
Apollo 14: Alan Shepard & Edgar (Ed) Mitchell
Apollo 15: David Scott & James Irwin
Apollo 16: John Young & Charles Duke
Apollo 17: Eugene (Gene) Cernan & Harrison Schmidt


2) Why haven't we been back?

a) American astronauts visited the moon on six occasions.

b) The "moon race" was an extension of the cold war. It was mostly about national prestige. We got there first and achieved our primary objective. There was some good science: surveys, measurements, sample collection. But it was mostly about being there first. Once we achieved our primary objective, there was no political will to go back. There still isn't. Perhaps, if we discover He3 or something else valuable, there will be.

c) I used to travel to Crested Butte, Colorado every year to ski. Because I don't go anymore, does it mean that I never went?


3) What about the Van Allen radiation belts? Wouldn't it have killed the astronauts?

The existence of the Van Allen radiation belts postulated in the 1940s by Nicholas Christofilos. Their existence was confirmed in *1958* by the Explorer I satellite launched by the USA.

The radiation in the Van Allen radiation belts is not particularly strong. You would have to hang out there for a week or so in order to get radiation sickness. And, because the radiation is not particularly strong, a few millimeters of metal is all that is required for protection. "An object satellite shielded by 3 mm of aluminum will receive about 2500 rem (25 Sv) per *year*."

"In practice, Apollo astronauts who travelled to the moon spent very little time in the belts and received a harmless dose. [6]. Nevertheless NASA deliberately timed Apollo launches, and used lunar transfer orbits that only skirted the edge of the belt over the equator to minimise the radiation." When the astronauts returned to Earth, their dosimeters showed that they had received about as much radiation as a couple of medical X-rays.


4) The U.S. government scammed everyone?

In 1972, there was a politically motivated burglary of a hotel room in the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. There were only about six or eight people who knew about it. However, those people, including Richard M. Nixon, the President of the United States, failed to keep that burglary a secret. It exploded into a scandal that drove the President and a number of others from office.

If six or eight people couldn't keep a hotel room burglary a secret, then how could literally thousands of people could have kept their mouths shut about six faked moon landings? Not just one moon landing, but six of them!


5) What about the USSR?

Even if NASA and other government agencies could have faked the six moon landings well enough to fool the general public, they could NOT have fooled the space agency or military intelligence types in the USSR. The Soviets were just dying to beat us. If the landings were faked, the Soviets would have re-engineered their N-1 booster and landed on the moon just to prove what liars Americans are. Why didn't they? Because the landings were real and the Soviets knew it.


6) Why does the flag shake? Where are the stars? Who took the video of Neil Armstrong?

Take a look at the first two websites listed below. They deal well with all of the technical questions.


7) Finally, please tell us what you would accept as definitive evidence that the six moon landings were real. Is there anything?

Answer 4

It is totally untrue that we have not been back due to there being no need. The scientists and specifically geologists waiting for more information from the moon were devastated at the Apollos 18 to 20 being cancelled.

It was money and the times (Vietnam war). The moon shots were incredibly expensive. Just to develop the lander cost about 2 billion dollars back then.

When the Saturn V rocket was mothballed, they have not got a rocket that will take humans beyond earth oribit. To do that, they would have to rebuild the Saturn V or design a new rocket.

Do not believe the people that say there is no need, they do not know what they are talking about and are not much better than those idiots who think it was faked.

We only got a tiny fraction of lunar information from the six Apollo moon landings.

Answer 5

Its the money, but we should go back and land on the dark side of the Moon simply because it has been a long time. We need that experience if we are to even think of going to Mars.

Answer 6

There has. We went back at least 7 times. They didn't have anything else they needed to try there after that, so what's the point in going back until we can try something new, like a moon base?

Answer 7

Were Planning on making a manned trip out there pretty soon to prepare to build a moon base that would be like a Gas station for ships heading out to Mars on manned missions. Go to www.Popsci.com and I think they are talking about it.

Answer 8

At this point there is more to gain from the Space Shuttle program than moon missions.

Answer 9

Because the moon is beat, we are focusing our attentions else where. IE the space station, Mars ect...

Answer 10

That's a Fantastic Question... I would like to know as well.My reasoning is - Man didn't land on it in the first place. Let them prove us wrong and do it again! Maybe this time with special effects.