Return to the Moon

Following the huge success of the Apollo moon landing missions between 1969 and 1972, US and Russian attention turned to Earth orbiting human spaceflight with the development of MIR, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. The idea of having humans living and working on the Moon by the 1980s was quietly forgotten. However, the discovery of water (ice) on the Moon in the 1990s has radically changed the practicability of lunar settlement, and the emergence of new space powers, in particular Europe, India and China has led to a new "space race" to the Moon. This talk presents the current mission proposals to land on the Moon, working towards a permanent "lunar village".