In July 2022 the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is planning to launch the first of a series of missions in a program by the name of “Artemis.” These missions are planned to return humans to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. But, many people have wondered why NASA is returning to the moon. They argue there is nothing there to explore or test and that the United States could better spend tax money on other things such as the military or economy.
Although these claims seem credible at first, it is important to realize how important space exploration is as a whole. The most major and significant way humans can continue to build their civilizations is through the increased technology and energy available from space exploration and colonization. These things range from terraforming planets to building Dyson spheres, but even the smaller accomplishments matter, such as living on another planet and showing sustainability in spaces absent of external intervention. The future of space exploration starts with colonizing the moon as it’s the next big jump in human innovation. The very fact that humans can demonstrate the ability to transform an environment to be habitable through their technology will be instrumental in the future exploration and expansion of the universe.
The major opposition against space exploration as a whole is the fact that we are venturing out while our Earth is ‘dying.’ While this is true, space exploration should not be stopped because of this, instead focus on the Earth should be brought up to the level of space travel. The study of space is a scientific discipline, and no other scientific discipline, such as theoretical physics and atomic chemistry, would be asked to stop research due to the funding it takes from environmental programs. Although space exploration should not be the only thing of concern, it should still be focused on advancing our knowledge of it just like any other scientific field.
The Artemis missions are not only important to long-term space exploration but short-term as well. The major reason to explore and colonize the moon is to test and perfect technology that will allow us to occupy Mars in the future; enabling us to expand and improve the human race. While this may seem far off, it’s never too early to start; That is why we are returning to the Moon.