All aboard the new mission to the Moon

The journey takes three days and when you land, you find no air and no gravity, just craters, rocks and dust. The Moon may not be the most exciting or hospitable place in the solar system. But after a successful landing last week, NASA’s new Orion capsule and Space Launch System could soon get us there.

NASA gave away the equipment used for the first moonwalk to museums around the world. Since then, its scientists have been focusing on other space projects like the ISS.

Now, however, they are designing and testing a spacecraft called Orion. It is set to be launched into space and to fly around the moon next year. There will be no passengers for the first journey, but Orion will be able to carry up to six astronauts on future missions — perhaps to the Moon, or even Mars.

NASA is not the only organisation racing to space. Some private companies are developing their own technology, offering ordinary people the chance to fly to the Moon. One of them is charging £8,000, enough to buy a small car.

Is it time for humans to go to the Moon permanently?

The Moon is like another continent to explore. Let’s find out what’s buried in those ice-filled craters and look at what could be mined from below the Moon’s surface. If we can get safely to the Moon, we could build another space station, or launch spaceships from there. We could try living there before moving on to to Mars. There are no limits!

We should leave the Moon alone. There may be very little to mine on the Moon and anything we did would cost lots of money. It would potentially do a lot of damage. Human curiosity and ambition has already changed things on Earth — and not always for the better. It is irresponsible to try to colonise the moon — let’s take care of our own planet instead.