Trilok Singh
According to NASA, Returning astronauts to the ‘moon’ in 2024 could cost about “$30 billion”, or roughly the same price tag as the Apollo 11 spaceflight when factoring in inflation.
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Meanwhile, “For the whole programme, to get a ‘sustainable presence’ on the moon, we’re looking at between $20 & $30 billion,” NASA Administrator named ‘Jim Bridenstine’ stated in a interview on June 14 though noting that figure does not include money already spent on the ‘rocket’ and ‘space capsule’ the space agency plans to use for the programme.
However, The total cost of the Apollo programme that the United State launched in 1961 and concluded in 1972 was $25 billion. The space agency, NASA, which has dubbed its current lunar programme Artemis (after Apollo’s twin sister, the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness and the moon), plans to send one male and one female astronaut to the moon in 2024, as per report asserted.
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Bridenstine recalled that the main difference between the Apollo programme and the Artemis program is that the former culminated with brief stays on the moon while the latter will entail a permanent human presence there.
Significantly, The plan will involve the recruitment of ‘private companies’ and ‘international partners’, the construction of a lunar space station and manned landings at the moon’s south pole within five years. The entire project will be framed as a practice run for a future mission to Mars.
While the programme includes an unmanned mission around the moon in 2020 and a manned mission that also will orbit the moon two years later. Then one male astronaut and – for the first time – a female astronaut would set foot on the lunar surface in 2024.
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The three lunar missions will be delivered into space by the Space Launch System, a rocket being developed by NASA and Boeing that will be the largest ever built once it is fully assembled. That rocket will send into orbit a new spacecraft known as Orion, whose lead contractor is Lockheed Martin.
Besides these missions exclusively handled by NASA, five other launches will be carried out to place in lunar orbit the components for construction of the Gateway mini-space station, which will serve as a staging post for moon landings. According to NASA’e plan, Those five missions between 2022 and 2024 will be operated by private companies.
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Despite all of this, The Indian Space Agency named ‘ISRO’ has announced that, Chandrayan-2 will be launch on July 15, this year. Meanwhile, Former ISRO Chief & BJP leader G Madhavan Nair stated that, Original plan was to launch Chandrayaan-2 in 2012 but due to some policy level decisions of UPA-2 government it was delayed. After Modi took over, he gave thrust to such projects, especially Gaganyaan & Chandrayaan-2.
-CEO, Trilok Singh (trilok.facebook.com)!
