Future Explored - NASA’s 2025 moon mission

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NASA hasn’t made any real attempts to return to the moon since 1972
- Apollo astronauts only explored 5% of the moon’s surface.
NASA has already spent a mindblowing $23 billion developing the SLS
launches are expected to cost $4.1 billion each.
More than 1,100 companies have contributed to the rocket’s development
- Boeingtaking on the lion’s share of the work (and funding).

to break free of Earth’s gravity and reach the moon, a rocket needs to break 25,000 mph
Orion capsule weighs 36 tons
NASA needs a 2,750-ton rocket taller than the Statue of Liberty to send four astronauts to the moon

Data collected during the Apollo missions has been used in more than 2,500 academic papers
“With very few exceptions, no other scientific expedition is still producing this much new science … these moon rocks have not yet given up all of their secrets, and they likely still won’t 50 years from now,” & Michael Shara, a curator at the American Museum of Natural History.
Apollo astronauts only explored 5% of the moon’s surface

Science isn’t the only potential benefit to going back to the moon — there’s potential for mining the valuable resources on the moon, including:
Rare-earth elements: These 17 elements — used to make EV batteries, smartphones, satellites, and more — are in high demand and are hard to extract on Earth.
Helium-3: The isotope helium-3 — which is rare on Earth, but abundant on the moon — is regarded as the ideal fuel for nuclear fusion, the clean energy source that could end our reliance on climate-harming fossil fuels (if we can harness it).
Water: We have plenty of water on Earth, but mining it on the moon could save NASA the costly process of transporting it up from Earth for astronauts to use. Moon water could also be transformed into rocket fuel, saving on the cost of sending fuel for a return trip to the moon — or to Mars.

The next step will be using the SLS to send an uncrewed Orion capsule on a trip around the moon.
- That could happen as soon as June 2022, and a moon-orbiting mission with a crew could follow as soon as 2024.
NASA hopes to launch a second crewed SLS again in 2025.
- That Orion capsule will dock with a SpaceX-developed lander waiting in the moon’s orbit. The lander will then transport two crew members to the moon’s surface — more than 50 years after NASA last put boots on the lunar ground.