Lots of excitement for space bubbled up in spring 2026. The Artemis II mission took a crew of four on a flyby around the Moon, and NASA officials announced their goal of constructing a permanent lunar outpost by 2030.

With that announcement, NASA outlined a definitive set of goals for getting humans to the surface of the Moon. That way, people can learn how to live and work productively off Earth before going much farther away, to Mars. Yes, we’re going to the Moon again, but this time to stay.

As a geologist, I have spent 40 years studying the Moon and human space exploration. When the crew of Artemis II crossed behind the Moon and lost contact with Earth, it brought back my memories of Apollo 8 doing so for the first time in 1968. That experience had marked my first “Apollo moment” of many over the next four years. This generation has now had their first “Artemis moment,” and just as it was in 1968, such moments are inspirational.

The excitement could continue to grow if NASA can maintain its aspirational mission manifest of 79 launches and 73 lunar landings between now and 2036. These missions are mostly robotic, uncrewed landings until after 2027, when the agency has two human landings per year planned.

But the devil........

© The Conversation