President Trump wants to put humans back on the moon before his term ends. Is that doable? Natalie Hinkel, a planetary astrophysicist from LSU, says it would be an extremely daunting challenge for many reasons. “Honestly, it’s going to take quite a lot of work. There are a lot of things that really need to come together, trying to get everyone tooled up that quickly to make sure that not only is the launch successful, but all the astronauts are able to then return safely … there are so many steps involved,” explained Hinkel.
She adds that many people seem to be asking why the same technology that brought astronauts to the moon in 1969 can’t be much more easily replicated and improved upon today. “There isn’t mothballed old tech that is ready to be used. All of the shuttles that were available during the Apollo missions are literally museum pieces now,” Hinkel noted. She adds that the development and implementation of new technology that meets modern standards takes a great amount of time and testing to make sure it can actually be rolled out. Safety, she says, is a paramount concern.
Among the issues involved with the time frame mentioned by President Trump is the lack of time to properly prepare the actual human beings involved to successfully pull off such a mission, Hinkel points out. “The rockets and the hardware that go into the launch vehicles are one thing. But, the people are a major portion of what puts astronauts into space. You can’t just roll them out there,” added the LSU Astrophysicist.
Another issue at hand is the lack of actual experience on-staff when it comes to pulling off a successful moon mission, Hinkel adds. “The last time we went to the moon was 1972 and, while many of them have probably since retired, my hope is that some of their knowledge has been documented and can be used to build upon for future missions,” she noted.
While she said such a mission isn’t impossible, she does question the lack of testing that a trip to the moon would require for both the technical components and human astronauts involved.