The most remembered and revered moon mission is by Neil Armstrong and his crew. Who were the first in the world to set foot on the moon. His famous words are “one step for man, and one big leap for mankind.” Though it is the most known mission, it wasn’t the last. Even now countries such as India, China and the U.S are preparing to the moon for a far greater task than setting foot on the moon...the colonization of it.
For years now scientists have been looking for the colonization of other planets such as Mars but new research shows that the moon contains an important factor that makes it suitable for colonization...water. A theory that was first recognized in the 1960’s by NASA scientists show that liquid water may not be able to persist on the lunar surface due to the fact that the moon does not have an atmosphere, so all evaporated water is lost in outer space but water molecules trapped in the form of ice may be able to survive at the cold shadowed areas at the lunar poles.
Recently Indian scientists have sent a rocket to test this theory. The Indian rocket Chandrayaan II was launched on July 22nd. The Chandrayaan II rocket is predicted to orbit around the earth until it has enough momentum to slingshot to the moons orbit. There the lander Vikram with separate from the orbiter and it will descend into the lunar atmosphere towards the south pole. Then the lander will scan the lunar surface for landing spots and achieve a soft landing. After that the rover Pragyan will continue tests on the lunar surface for 14 days. The purpose of the Chandrayaan II experiment is to test the lunar surface for any sign of water ice and demonstrate the ability to soft land.
The U.S and China have also started to prepare for the colonization of the moon. The U.S plans for the development of a new lunar lander which they have predicted will be finished by 2024. Earlier last year China had launched irts Chang’e 4 which was expected to land on the far side of the moon, where no other spacecraft has ever landed. Though many countries are taking different paths, everyone has set sights on a common goal...the colonization of the moon.
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