Why Did NASA Stop Sending Rovers and Landers to the Moon?
The last time NASA sent a rover to the Moon was in 1976, with the final Apollo mission. Since then, there have been no robotic missions to the Moon. There are a few reasons for this.
Cost: Sending a rover to the Moon is expensive. The Apollo missions cost billions of dollars, and the cost of robotic missions has only gone up since then.
Public interest: Public interest in space exploration has declined since the Apollo era. This has made it more difficult to get funding for new missions.
New priorities: NASA has shifted its priorities in recent years. The agency is now focused on sending humans to Mars, and it has put less emphasis on lunar exploration.
What is the Difference Between NASA and India’s Approaches to Lunar Exploration?
NASA and India have different approaches to lunar exploration. NASA is focused on sending humans to Mars, while India is focused on robotic exploration of the Moon.
NASA’s Artemis program is a plan to send humans back to the Moon by 2024. The program includes a new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and a new spacecraft, the Orion. NASA is also developing a lunar Gateway, a space station that will orbit the Moon. The Gateway will serve as a staging ground for missions to the Moon and Mars.
India’s Chandrayaan program is a series of robotic missions to the Moon. The first mission, Chandrayaan-1, was launched in 2008. It mapped the Moon’s surface and found evidence of water ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles. The second mission, Chandrayaan-2, was launched in 2019. It included a rover, Pragyan, which was supposed to land on the Moon. However, the rover failed to land and was lost.
NASA and India are both working to advance our understanding of the Moon. However, they have different approaches to achieving this goal. NASA is focused on sending humans to the Moon, while India is focused on robotic exploration. It will be interesting to see how these two approaches play out in the years to come.
In addition to the differences in their approaches to lunar exploration, NASA and India also have different strengths and weaknesses. NASA has a more developed space infrastructure, including the SLS and the Orion spacecraft. However, India has a lower cost of space exploration. This could make it easier for India to conduct more missions to the Moon in the future.
Overall, NASA and India are both making significant contributions to lunar exploration. It will be interesting to see how their efforts play out in the years to come.
@nasa needs to see this