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Why did it take 50 years to return to the Moon?

2026-04-02 18:06:57Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
NASA's Space Launch System rocket, as tall as a 32-story building, lifted off with a powerful roar into the clear sky, leaving behind a large column of thick white vapor.

On December 19, 1972, the Apollo 17 mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, marking the last time humans set foot on the moon. Today, half a century later, four astronauts launched from Florida on Wednesday on NASA's Artemis II mission, a journey around the moon that marks the United States' boldest step yet toward returning humans to the lunar surface in a race to the moon with China.

The question that naturally arises is: Why did it take so long?

The answer lies not in technology, but in politics and finance. The Apollo program was born out of the Cold War race. President John F. Kennedy set the goal as a geopolitical challenge, and his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, ensured its fulfillment.

However, the high cost of the Vietnam War and internal reforms reduced NASA's budget as early as 1966. Apollo ended in 1972 not because it failed, but because it had fulfilled its political mission: defeating the Soviet Union in the space race.

After Apollo, the US lost its appetite for deep space exploration. President Nixon directed NASA to build the Space Shuttle, conceived as a reusable vehicle for routine access to low Earth orbit.

This focus was reinforced in the 1990s with the construction of the International Space Station (ISS). While the ISS became a symbol of scientific cooperation, it absorbed massive financial resources that could otherwise have been used to return to the Moon or go to Mars.

Over the decades, several presidents have tried to return the focus to the Moon, but failed. George H.W. Bush proposed the SEI, but the hundreds of billions of dollars in costs led to its cancellation. Meanwhile, George W. Bush's Constellation program was canceled by Barack Obama in 2010 due to a lack of financial support from Congress.

This cycle highlighted a structural problem: lunar programs require multi-decade commitments, but they must compete every year with spending on defense, health, and changes in political leadership.

The Artemis program appears to have escaped this cycle of failure as NASA is partnering with private companies (like SpaceX) and creating an international coalition through the Artemis Accords, sharing costs and risks.

The goal of Artemis is not just a "visit" to Earth's satellite, but to establish a sustainable presence to learn how to live on another world, in preparation for humans going to Mars.

The 50-year gap is a reminder of how difficult it is for modern democracies to sustain such massive investments without immediate geopolitical pressure. Artemis' success will depend on the long-term alignment of economic, scientific, and political interests.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said this is just the first step towards future missions, which will include building a base on the Moon.

"It's certainly an incredibly important step. I mean, this is the first crewed mission to this environment in more than half a century, on a rocket that has never carried people before, along with a spacecraft. So it's incredibly important, because we're going to learn a lot from this mission that will help guide future missions."

If the mission goes according to plan, the crew of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will fly around the Moon and return during a nearly 10-day expedition, testing the spacecraft to its limits while exploring deeper into space than ever before.

This mission is the first crewed flight under the Artemis program, the successor to the Cold War-era Apollo project, and the first in the world to send astronauts near the Moon, outside Earth orbit, in 53 years.

The last time astronauts walked on the Moon, a feat so far only achieved by the United States, was the final Apollo mission in 1972.


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