How The Current Lunar Missions Differ From The Last Moon Rush

Relevance: GS 3 - Awareness in the field of Space

(Source: Indian Express, 08/09/23)

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Why in the news?

Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to land on the moon around August 23 or 24, followed closely by Russia's Luna 25 and Japan's SLIM, with its launch set for August 26. This article discussed how the current wave of missions is vastly different from the space race of the 1960s.

How The Current Lunar Missions Differ From The Last Moon Rush?

Past lunar mission

• Competition during the cold-war era: The space race ignited after the Soviet Union's Sputnik launch in 1957, resulting in multiple attempts to reach the moon within three years. Notable successes included Luna 3 capturing lunar images in 1959.
• The 1960s witnessed intense rivalry, climaxing with Apollo 11's historic moon landing in 1969. Over 55 missions were launched during this decade.
• However, lunar missions came to an abrupt halt after the Apollo 11 missions, and there were no further attempts until Japan's mission in 1990.
• More expensive and less efficient: Those missions were intrinsically unsustainable as they were extremely expensive, massively energy-intensive, and very risky.
• The failure rate was very high, almost 50 per cent.

Current lunar mission

• A Global Endeavor: The current wave of lunar exploration involves not just the United States and Russia, but also Japan, China, India, South Korea, and Israel, with other countries showing interest.
• From Competition to Cooperation: Unlike the earlier space race, the current lunar missions aim to harness the moon's resources and create sustainable pathways for deeper space exploration.
• Establishing a permanent lunar station is now within the realm of possibility in the next few decades.
• Advancement in technology: Advancements in technology and materials have made lunar missions more cost-effective and safer, with no complete failures since their resumption in 1990.

Conclusion

• The current wave of lunar missions signals a shift from a rivalry-driven space race to a cooperative pursuit of cosmic understanding. The focus on sustainable exploration, resource utilization, and potential colonization highlights the evolution of space exploration and humanity's quest to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

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