It was a contest of technological prowess. “This was a contest of political ideologies. Recent NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine highlighted this when he described the space race thus: Apollo 11 was a political statement in the midst of the space race, and once it had been made, the necessity for more missions to the Moon was gone. Whilst the US government was willing to put a lot of money in to the Apollo missions when it was helpful to the space race, research and technological development were not viewed as a priority. However, with the goal achieved NASA faced large funding cuts, making the future of the Apollo missions untenable. There had originally been 20 Apollo missions planned, but technological and research based missions were not seen as important as the achievement of the Moon landing itself, and the final three missions were cancelled. When the Moon landing took place in 1969, Kennedy’s goal had been achieved, and his deadline met. And it will be done before the end of this decade." It will be done during the term of office of some of the people who sit here on this platform. It may be done while some of you are still here at school at this college and university. In the speech, Kennedy committed to getting a human to walk on the Moon by the end of the decade: "And this will be done in the decade of the 60s. Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas, now known as the ‘We Choose to go to the Moon’ speech. The race to land humans on the Moon was kickstarted by President John F. NASA’s Artemis Program aims to return to the Moon by 2024, and set up a sustained human presence that would allow us to regularly visit our celestial neighbour.įind out more about the future of space travel Why NASA stopped going to the moon There are also future plans for journeys to the Moon. Whilst manned missions to the moon have stopped, research into the moon and journeys to space still take place. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.
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That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. ".I'm on the surface and, as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come - but we believe not too long into the future - I'd like to just what I believe history will record. As he ascended to the lunar module he said:
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Schmitt, Apollo 17 lunar module pilot, collects lunar rake samples at Station 1 during the mission's first spacewalk at the Taurus-Littrow landing site (NASA)Ĭernan was the last to leave the lunar surface, and therefore is the most recent person to stand on the Moon. The Space Shuttle was also instrumental in the development of the ISS. The crewed spacecraft allowed NASA to travel to recover damaged satellites, fix them and send them back into space. The first reusable spacecraft, NASA’s Space Shuttle enabled satellites to be launched and returned to Earth.
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Orbital decay is the gradual decrease of distance between two objects in orbit of each other. Eventually the orbital decay of Skylab could not be stopped. It had a workshop, an observatory and carried out hundreds of experiments.ĭevelopment and further use of Skylab was delayed due to problems developing the Space shuttle. It operated between May 1973 and Feb 1974. Skylab was the first NASA managed and operated space station. When was the last time we went to space?Īlthough we haven’t put a human on the lunar surface since the 1970s, there are now regular crewed missions to space. The cost of getting to the Moon was, ironically, astronomical. Apollo 17 became the last manned mission to the Moon, for an indefinite amount of time. 12 men walked on the lunar surface in total. But in 1970 future Apollo missions were cancelled. It was a moment that the world had been waiting for.Īpollo 11 was followed by six further trips to the Moon, five of which landed successfully. The Apollo 11 Moon landing in July 1969 was a huge feat of human endeavour, engineering and science.