LUNAR RETURN

Artemis missions set to ignite the Moon race

It took humanity a good five decades to return to the Lunar surface and they are aiming big this time

At the zenith of the space race between the USSR and the United States, twelve U.S astronauts landed on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. And then we saw a long hiatus of almost five decades before a return to the moon was even contemplated. So far, three countries have landed successful missions on the moon — China is the most recent addition in 2013, along with the two countries mentioned above. It has sent three missions in the last decade: Chang’e 3 in 2013, Chang’e 4 in January 2019 and Long March 5 in 2020.

This landscape, however, is about to get a major shakeup. Not only is the list of countries attempting to land on the lunar surface about to expand, but private companies are also set to join the endeavor. U.S’s premier space agency NASA actually has some ambitious plans — apart from the manned mission in 2025, it eventually intends to establish a manned lunar base. Artemis I, II & III missions are part of this massive blueprint.

There have been a couple of hiccups. Artemis I has already unsuccessfully attempted to launch twice. A big hydrogen leak forced the agency to call off the most…