Humanity’s future on the moon: Why Russia, India and other countries are racing to the lunar south pole

Whereas descending to the moon’s floor on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin struggled with alarms from an overwhelmed pc and spotty communication with mission management in Houston, the place controllers frantically flipped via notes to determine error codes. After enduring a nerve-wracking 13 minutes and overshooting their touchdown website by 4 miles (6 kilometers), the crew managed to the touch down unhurt close to the moon’s equator with simply 15 seconds’ price of gasoline left, and radioed residence a much-awaited message: “The Eagle has landed.”

Between 1969 and 1972, the U.S. landed 12 astronauts on the moon as a part of the Apollo program, which was shaped primarily to beat the previous Soviet Union to the moon within the warmth of the Chilly Warfare. Now, greater than 50 years after the primary human landed on the moon, curiosity is as soon as once more surging to go to our celestial neighbor. This time, although, spacefaring nations are eyeing the lunar south pole, which has turn into a hotspot for each short- and long-term house exploration.