Moon has regained interest under Trump administration as a destination, contradicting the previous US stance that shies away from the astronomical body because "explorers had already seen it." While the Trump did not elaborate on the matter, insiders suggest that return to Moon can be done through public-private partnership. It seems that everything is en route beyond the low-orbit International Space Station once again.
Speculations that man's re-exploration of the Moon resurged after the government's meeting with figures that are linked to space exploration. SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk met with Trump's advisors on multiple occasions. Blue Origin, a rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also had a meeting with the White House.
There are some advisors of Trump who worked for project Constellation which aimed to return astronauts to the Moon. It was former president George W. Bush who envisioned the renewed exploration since the Apollo missions during the 60's and 70's, Phys Org reported. However, the project was sidelined for the past decade with no tangible results.
Project Constellation particularly suffered a backlash after former president Barack Obama ruled that it is expensive to maintain. Then came another project which eyes other destinations like the asteroids and Mars. Moon was forgotten - until Trump came to the presidency.
Meanwhile, Commercial Spaceflight Federation president Eric Stallmer said that there is an ongoing project that aims to develop powerful rockets. NASA dubbed the project as Space Launch System which is to be fitted into a new capsule, Orion. Stallmer said that this project can not only catapult men to the Moon but has the potential for deep space explorations as well. If all goes well, Orion might someday carry men on Mars too.
The private sector has a particular interest in billions of tons of water ice found on the Moon's poles. It is unclear how, but the private sector argues that water ice could be utilized to refuel satellites that are in orbit. Many consider this idea cheaper as opposed to refueling them with resources from Earth.
