It was a war that brought together the idea of exploring the surface of the moon. The idea that launched Apollo 11 would never have taken place if not for the cold war. There has always been an unspoken competition between the US and the Soviet Union about sending the first man to the moon.
To be able to prove the superiority of US technology in space exploration, they decided to launch the Apollo 11 and indeed they were right. It brought the world's first human to step on the moon and it was just the beginning.
In fact, this secret war between the US and other countries interested in making a mark in terms of space technological advancements, the Congress was motivated to devout a huge portion of the budget of that year to the expedition to the moon. At the peak of the race to the moon in 1966, the US budget that they allotted to NASA has reached 4.5% of the total budget. Yet after the first landing to the moon was done, the agency did not receive any more to do further exploration.
The program has taken the back seat and the support became weak. The agency never again received more than their usual 2% budget and they have gotten less support every year until it took a turn around in 2010. When the quest to discover more about space particularly the moon and several planets like Saturn and the Red Planet, the US government reconsidered the budget that NASA is receiving. They knew that if they wanted to get ahead of their competitors, they have to put money in the research and that is a huge investment for the government.
Today, the desire to go back to the moon is not dependent on the idea that people wanted to see if people would survive on the moon. The goal now is to consider building a community on the surface of the moon. Is it possible for communities to survive on the moon? This is the million dollar question that brought NASA its additional budget. The US government announced its interest in sending more people to the moon, this time involving a woman astronaut.
The plan looks perfect, considering that people around the world will think it is holistic as a woman is involved in the entire exploration. The US Congress is seriously considering how much additional budget will be given to the agency as the goal to make the second moon exploration happen by 2024. The time is short considering all the factors that need to be put in place before the launch in 2024, but the agency is up for the challenge. They are currently in competition with a number of countries like India and Russia and several other private companies too.
Building communities on the moon is always a possibility and new moon explorations will help get answers as to whether it is possible or not. If it is, the lunar communities will definitely be another option for those who live on Earth.
