We appear to be at the beginning of a second space race towards the Moon, where instead of national agencies rushing to be the first to step foot on the nearby rock, agencies and private companies alike are striving towards what could be unprecedented profits.
Apollo 11 first set foot on the Moon back in July 1969, and just three years later in 1972 was the last time that any astronaut walked upon its surface.
While your initial thoughts might point towards technological or scientific limitations when it comes to our reluctance for space travel, the actual reality is far more depressing. NASA has faced countless financial and regulatory barriers that prevent the agency from sending more astronauts to the Moon in a process that has frustrated many, but that could all change soon.
Advert
As reported by Quartz, agencies in the US, Europe, and China, alongside a slew of private companies, like SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, are now ramping up a space race for the new age, spending billions on efforts to reach the Moon once more, but this time things will be a little different.
The plans aren't just to step foot on its surface, but instead to increase exploration efforts, attempt colonization, and and even approach the topic of resource mining, as analysts estimate that the Moon as a whole could be worth around $170,000,000,000.
This, like some incredibly valuable asteroids, is down to the materials found within the Moon's formation, which include water ice - which would be useful for habitation on the Moon and for producing rocket fuel - and rare earth materials, which are an essential component of most modern technology like smartphones or cars, as per Business Insider.
On top of this, scientists have indicated that the Moon likely holds helium-3, which is a non-radioactive isotope that can be used for nuclear fission, and this has been sold at around $2,500 per liter, making it unbelievably valuable if found in large quantities.
What has troubled many scientists, however, is the Moon's current parallels to the 'wild west', which senior astrophysicist Martin Elvis has indicated to be a 'bad incentive' for private companies especially to get there before proper rules and regulations are in place.
This could also pose significant threat to further research into both the Moon and the universe at large from a scientific perspective, as the supposedly destructive by nature efforts of those looking for financial gain directly conflict discovery missions.
Elvis indicated that water mining in particular could be the most destructive of these efforts, as the vibrations caused by these actions would likely cause irreparable disruption to 'delicate' areas.
He has suggested that protected parks - similar to National Parks found back on Earth - should be introduced on the Moon to prevent mining in key research areas, but indicated that there is just a brief window of time where scientific needs can be considered before money overrides all else.
"There should be more stakeholders than just the wealthy and companies that want to do this," Elvis pleaded. "The stakeholders ought to include all of us - just as all of us have a stake in terrestrial environments."
It remains yet to be seen how much the science and research side of things will be taken into consideration when exploration efforts properly ramp up, but it could be a key fork in the road that determines our future understanding of space.