On December 15, 1972, the lunar module of the Apollo 17 spacecraft took off from the lunar surface and began its return journey to Earth, and after several days of flight, it successfully returned to Earth on December 19, 1972. This is the last manned mission to the moon in human history, and the sixth manned spacecraft in history to successfully land on the moon.
With the return of the Apollo 17 spacecraft to Earth, it also marked the end of the Apollo manned lunar landing program, and more than half a century has passed since then, and for such a long time, humans have not set foot on the surface of the moon again. Over the years, not to mention manned landings on the moon, the United States has not even carried out a single mission to land a probe on the moon.
Because when the United States proposed to implement the Apollo manned lunar landing program in the last century, the United States had just broken through the technology of manned spaceflight, and the first manned space flight mission of the United States was only a suborbital flight, and did not fly around the earth. Under such circumstances, the United States achieved a manned lunar landing in a few years, which was unimaginably difficult, and many scientists expressed great pressure when they proposed the manned lunar landing plan at that time.
For various reasons, many people do not believe that the United States really achieved a manned moon landing in the last century, and many netizens still think that the Apollo manned moon landing program may really be just a "hoax" and "scandal", which may have been filmed in a studio.
For example, at the "Artificial Intelligence World Tour" international exhibition held in Moscow last month, the artificial intelligence of Google in the United States identified a photo of the American mission to the moon and concluded that the photo of the American moon landing was a synthetic fake. Google's artificial intelligence in the United States used red to mark the parts of the AI mission that could be fake, and as a result, almost every part of this moon landing photo was marked in red. Artificial intelligence did not identify these problems when it examined the photos of the Chinese lunar rover.
Was the photo of the US moon landing revealed to be synthetic? At that time, this incident once again aroused heated discussions among major netizens. Many people did not believe that the Apollo manned moon landing was real, and Dmitry Rogozin, the former head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, once publicly questioned the authenticity of the Apollo manned moon landing, and he did not believe that the Americans really landed on the moon. Could it be that the "hoax" and "scandal" of the Apollo manned moon landing really cannot be hidden?
We have also seen a lot of doubts about the Apollo manned moon landing before, and of course there are many people who believe that the Apollo manned moon landing is true. We will not delve into the authenticity of the Apollo manned landing on the moon, because each has its own theories, and no one can convince anyone.
How difficult is the U.S. moon landing?
In the 60s of the last century, a manned landing on the moon was achieved, and six consecutive manned lunar landings were successful, and 12 astronauts returned to Earth smoothly after a period of activity on the lunar surface, which is indeed a great feat. After more than half a century, the United States now wants to return to the moon, but it is full of difficulties, and in the decades since the Apollo moon landing, the United States has not even launched a probe to land on the moon. It's really strange.
After more than 50 years, the United States is trying to land on the moon again. According to the plan, on December 24 this year, the United States will launch the "Peregrine Falcon" probe, and on January 25, 2024, the "Peregrine Falcon" lander will try to land on the moon, this time an unmanned probe to the moon, without astronauts, mainly to study the lunar environment and prepare for the future Artemis manned return mission to the moon.
I believe everyone knows that the United States is going to return to the moon, that is, the Artemis manned return to the moon program, in this return to the moon program, the United States is no longer alone, but has attracted many countries including Japan, India and other countries to participate in it, Angola signed the "Artemis Accord" led by the United States, becoming the 33rd signatory of the "Artemis Accord" in the world.
According to the previous plan, the United States originally planned to achieve a manned return to the moon in 2024 and launch the Orion spacecraft to send astronauts to the moon, but due to the continuous delays in the development of a new generation of manned lunar rockets and the continuous over-budget, the manned return to the moon was postponed to no earlier than 2025. Now there is also news that the return of the United States to the moon may take place no earlier than 2027, that is, the return to the moon was originally planned for 2024, then postponed to no earlier than 2025, and now the return to the moon is postponed again. Is it true that the United States will not be able to land on the moon?
On November 30, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report titled "Multiple Challenges to a Manned Moon Landing on the Moon," which focused on NASA's Artemis return to the moon program.
According to the main content of this report, it is really too difficult for the United States to return to the moon, and it may not be possible to return to the moon in 2025, and it may not be achieved until 2027. If, in the process, various conditions occur again, the return to the moon may be delayed.
Because the rocket "Space Launch System", the Orion spacecraft and the lander used by the United States to return to the moon are all newly developed, and the Artemis 1 mission has been completed, launching an unmanned Orion spacecraft to fly around the moon and return to Earth. According to the plan, NASA intends to carry out the Artemis 2 mission in 2024, launch a manned Orion spacecraft to fly around the moon and return to Earth, and then on this basis, carry out the Artemis 3 mission by 2025, launch the Orion spacecraft to send astronauts to the moon.
If there is a problem with the Artemis 2 mission, or if the development of the lander does not go well, or if there is a lack of funds, etc., it will affect the fact of the Artemis 3 mission.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has repeatedly publicly stated that he does not want China to get to the moon before it does, and his concern may come true. Because we have officially announced that we will achieve a manned lunar landing by 2030, and the new generation of manned lunar rockets is expected to be ready for launch in 2027. So many netizens think that maybe we will really take the lead in sending our astronauts to the moon before the United States returns to the moon.