NASA plans to send astronauts to the hidden side of the moon in 2028

Even on a tight budget, NASA and the rest of the lunar scientific community are planning moon missions for years to come, Forbes points out. According to the news, the space agency intends to reach the point of Lagrange L2 (which is 60, 000 kilometers above the dark side of the moon) in 2021 and finally reach the hidden part of the satellite in 2028.

"The first test flight of the new Orion spacecraft is scheduled for September 2014. Then the spacecraft is scheduled to go around the unmanned moon in 2017 and crewed for an orbital lunar mission in 2021, " explains David Kring, a scientist. Planetarium Institute of the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) founded by NASA in Houston, Texas, United States.

Although the space agency has no funds at this time to promote a manned lunar mission, the scientist says NASA has already planned space tests for the Orion spacecraft. According to him, by parking the spacecraft in the L2 position, it would be possible to simultaneously maintain communication between the Earth and the hidden side of the moon.

“You can't truly understand a place without humans actually going there. It is as if we were trying to decipher the Earth from a climate monitoring satellite, ”compares the scientist.

Still, the expert believes that the lack of the presence of man on the surface of the moon has been an obstacle for all space exploration. In fact, it has been over 40 years since Apollo 17 left the lunar surface. “This absence on the lunar surface undermined the progress of lunar geology and all of planetology. Every time we go to the moon, we come to understand the earth better. ”

And even with the need to develop a project and raise funds for a lunar mission, Kring believes it is possible: “We are ready to land on the moon with a team and devices as soon as we have an opportunity, ” he concludes.