Dr Jacob Bleacher: Why do we need to go back to the Moon?

<p>In 1969, <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/tag/apollo-programme/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apollo</a> astronauts <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/neil-armstrong-apollo-11-mission-commander/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Neil Armstrong</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/buzz-aldrin-apollo-11-lunar-module-pilot/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Buzz Aldrin</a> became the first people ever to walk on the Moon, a feat over the next three and a half years only 10 other space explorers would go on to achieve.</p><p>Now it has taken nearly 50 years, but <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/tag/nasa/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NASA</a> once again has ambitions to land the first woman and the next man on <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/tag/the-moon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the Moon</a> by 2024.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/nasa-artemis-program-who-will-design-next-lunar-lander/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Artemis Program</a> is a wide-reaching effort by numerous space agencies and led by NASA, with ambitions to not only put human feet on the lunar surface but to build a permanent base there, with a <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/lunar-orbital-platform-gateway-the-next-space-station-will-orbit-the-moon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lunar space station</a> in orbit around the Moon.</p><p>To find out more, this week we speak to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/aes/jacob-bleacher/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr Jacob Bleacher</a>, Chief Exploration Scientist for human exploration at NASA, about how we are going to get there, what effect deep space will have on the astronauts, and why now is the time to go back to the Moon.</p><p>Let us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.</p><ul><li><strong>Subscribe</strong>&nbsp;to the&nbsp;<em>Science Focus Podcast</em