Why should we return to the Moon?

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"

~Neil Alden Armstrong~

 

1. Human Civilization: Extend human presence to the Moon to enable eventual settlement.
2. Scientific Knowledge: Pursue scientific activities that address fundamental questions about the history of Earth, the solar system and the universe; and therefore, about our place in them.
3. Exploration Preparation: Test technologies, systems, flight operations and exploration techniques to reduce the risks and increase the productivity of future missions to Mars and beyond.
4. Global Partnerships: Provide a challenging, shared and peaceful activity that unites nations in pursuit of common objectives.
5. Economic Expansion: Expand Earth's economic sphere, and conduct lunar activities with benefits to life on the home planet.
6. Public Engagement: Use a lively space exploration program to engage the public, encourage students and help develop the high-technology workforce that will be required to address the challenges of tomorrow.

Google Lunar X PRIZE
Awarded for	"land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth" [1]
Presented by	X Prize Foundation (organizer), Google Inc. (sponsor)
Country	Worldwide
Reward	US$20 million for the winner, US$5 million for second place, US$4 million in technical bonuses, US$1 million diversity award
Official website	googlelunarxprize.org

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."
 
President John F. Kennedy, September 12, 1962, at Rice University, 
Houston, Texas


 Ternyata bulan memiliki sisi magis yang selalu ingin mengundang manusia untuk menjelajahi dan mengeksplorasi. Bulan akan menjadi pijakan dan langkah pertama bagi penjelajahan dan koloni manusia ke luar angkasa. Bukankah seperti kata pepatah, perjalanan jauh selalu dimulai dengan satu langkah ?