Why are humans going back to the Moon?

[0:00] Welcome to the Global News Podcast on YouTube. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway and today we're joined [0:05] by the BBC's science correspondent Esme Stallard to talk about the return of humankind to the moon. [0:12] And as we speak, Artemis 2, the crew, are on their way. Tell us about their mission. [0:18] So they're going on a 10-day mission where they will travel to the far side of the moon [0:23] and return. This is part of the broader Artemis programme which will eventually, as you say, [0:28] hopefully see us land back on the moon in early 2028. So what they're doing is they're testing a [0:34] number of systems. So one of them, for example, that they're testing is the use of the deep space [0:38] network. So that's how they communicate as they travel further away from Earth, is making sure [0:43] that they can return as well from that far. They've also been practising a number of manoeuvres [0:48] over the time since they've launched. So this spacecraft all the astronauts are sitting in [0:52] was attached to a stage that's separated and then they were doing kind of flips to try and [0:57] orientate them. [0:58] And so they're doing a lot of work on that. So they're doing a lot of work on that. That's because [0:59] in future, what NASA would like to see is almost yearly returns to the moon, which would require [1:05] them to be landing and taking off from different docking stations. [1:09] Why is the US so keen to go back to the moon? After all, they had all those missions more than [1:15] 50 years ago. [1:16] Yeah, you would think that's done and dusted, box ticked. We don't need to do that again. But over [1:20] the last few years, there's been a real kind of acceleration of competition on Earth for resources. [1:25] And the moon and eventually Mars, [1:27] which is what NASA hopes this mission could help them eventually get to, raises the questions of [1:33] being able to harness more resources and more minerals. So what are some of the minerals that [1:37] they could actually find on the moon? Well, there's some very important rare earths and [1:41] other minerals, things like platinum, lithium are really crucial ones. These are absolutely [1:45] vital for electronics of all types. So think about electric vehicles, think about renewable energy, [1:51] think about your smartphone. So these are the types of minerals that the demand for those is [1:55] just going to keep increasing. [1:57] And also the potential for helium as well, which is trading at quite high prices. So there is real [2:03] potential for economic benefits from doing this mission. And that's something China is also hoping [2:10] to do. They have their own mission to the moon, which they're hoping to get there for 2030. In fact, [2:16] when this Artemis program first kind of kicked off in 2017, Trump actually, I'm going to read you his [2:21] quote, he said, he vowed to launch American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the [2:27] planet Mars. [2:27] And I think that kind of sums up the attitude of the administration. And this is about claiming [2:32] territory, it's about claiming access. And it's about American superiority, not just on the earth, [2:38] but in space as well. [2:39] Yeah, despite that talk of Mars, there seems to be more focus on the moon at the moment with Elon [2:46] Musk saying that they're shifting towards that. Is that because it's more immediate and just easier [2:52] to do? [2:53] Exactly. It's far more accessible there. I mean, the journey is 10 days, think about [2:57] going to the moon, it's 10 days, it's 10 days, it's 10 days, it's 10 days, it's 10 days, it's 10 days. [2:57] It's going to take weeks. And if there's any problems trying to get back, it is obviously [3:03] really difficult, not to mention if they're really serious about harnessing some of the minerals and [3:08] resources that are on the moon, getting them far quicker than what would be possible on Mars. At the [3:14] moment, even though there are critical minerals found around the world, most of the processing, so [3:20] the turning of these minerals into very useful materials actually happens in China. For some, it's [3:25] more than 90% lithium, for example. [3:27] And so there's no point waiting years and years and years to try and source more of these. The US feels like it [3:33] needs to act now. And also, this is a multi, multi billion dollar program. In order for it to have been [3:40] successful, it has needed four consecutive administrations to back it. You don't tend to get that. Often you [3:46] see the democratic administrations pull back because of the cost of it. So I think they're trying to take [3:51] advantage of the fact that they've had this collective support across the political divide, and just move [3:56] through these stages and try and get them back. [3:57] I think also it's inspiring. It's saying to people, okay, look, we've achieved something here. I think if you set the target of Mars, it's so far away. I think it's really hard for people to grapple with. But you could see last night on the videos, people that were down on the ground, how inspired they were. And I think that's what NASA and the administration, the US administration will be trying to kind of leverage to kind of build support for it. [4:20] And looking at the bigger picture, for the Americans and for President Trump, if they pull this off and land on the moon, [4:27] it'll be an amazing thing. [4:28] I mean, for them, absolutely, right. And not only is it a money commitment, but it's a show of strength. And right now, considering everything that's going on in Iran, I think Trump will see this as a significant win. He actually took to Truth Social last night to talk about the mission, saying that they were winning on Earth and in space. And I think that speaks to where his mind is that he very much sees this as a demonstration to their, I say enemies in quotation marks, competitors, maybe within this space. [4:57] that they are exceeding, and a show of American strength. And I think speaking particularly to his MAGA base, which, you know, have been starting, we're starting to see those splits on the issue of the Iran war, but maybe this is something they can coalesce around and support their president as he backs this mission. [5:15] Talking about the minerals, will it be cost effective to fly all that way, dig them up, bring them back, and then you might still have to process them here? [5:24] At the moment, no. [5:26] But you start [5:27] Anyway, I think what has been quite interesting in the whole minerals race recently is I think the kind of push to identify sources of minerals that are not cost effective now, but could be in the future. [5:39] Interestingly, often the moon is compared to the deep sea in terms of how much we know about it. And actually, the parallel races that are going on at this time in order to access minerals are actually very similar. [5:50] So the US has just announced that it will, well in the last year, that it is looking to issue licenses for deep sea mines. [5:57] The reason I mentioned that is that is an area that, much like space, is considered internationally shared, no one is allowed to claim it. [6:06] But the US has decided we don't care with that, we want to continue on and make the most of it. [6:12] Right now, that is not commercially viable. [6:14] But I think they consider it that we need to start harnessing these minerals, and over time, those costs will come down. [6:21] So it's quite interesting, I think seeing these two races play out in parallel. [6:25] And mostly it's China and US competing. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] Yeah. [6:27] in both of those spaces. [6:29] Yeah, I mean, how is China doing in its effort to get to the moon? [6:34] China is a little bit more private, as we know, about any of its operations. Trump is [6:38] very keen to take to true social to say how amazing they're doing. But China is progressing [6:43] through its own stages very quickly. As I mentioned, they're hoping to get to the moon [6:47] in 2030. But actually, even though NASA is sending astronauts over the other side of [6:52] the far moon, China got there some years before, not with astronauts, but with a lander. They [6:57] got that on the dark side of the moon. They collected rock samples and bought those back. [7:01] They have been shared. So recently they were shared with the UK Space Agency. But that's [7:06] really important because it tells you what might be available. It tells you about conditions [7:10] there that we'll have to deal with. That's really important as well. So even though they're [7:15] a lot more private, I think it's quite clear that this race is definitely on. And NASA [7:20] has seen some challenges over the years with this program where they've had to kind of [7:26] delay things quite a bit. [7:27] A lot. And obviously, I mentioned their funding being an issue. We know there's a few other [7:31] thing on Trump's mind right now that he's spending money on. So can NASA commit to this [7:35] program long term? [7:37] You mentioned challenges. They haven't even got to the moon yet. But what will they face [7:42] when they eventually get there and if they're going to stay there long term? I read somewhere [7:46] there was razor sharp dust, for instance. [7:48] I mean, every single possible thing that could go wrong would happen on the moon, right? [7:54] Temperature, pressure, the razor sharp dust. Razor sharp dust. [7:55] I mean, every single possible thing that could go wrong would happen on the moon, right? Temperature, [7:56] pressure, the razor sharp dust. Razor sharp dust. Razor sharp dust. Razor sharp dust. Razor sharp dust. Razor sharp dust. [7:57] Radiation is a very, very big one as well. So they actually have these amazing things [8:01] they're being sent with called organ chips, which effectively are a piece of human tissue [8:05] from each of the astronauts on board. There's four of them on board. And what they'll do [8:09] is that will go with them on the mission. It will come back. And as part of this avatars, [8:13] what it's called program, they will see how that human tissue has responded to radiation. [8:19] So that's really important when we begin to build potentially stations, suits for us to [8:24] be on the moon for an extended period of time of how we react to that. [8:27] But you know, space is a very, very difficult place to survive, even within the tightly [8:32] controlled pressure, temperature, humidity of the spacecraft. They have to exercise every [8:37] day because their muscle, their bone will weaken over time because of the conditions [8:41] they are under. So that just summarizes how challenging it is. But I think potentially [8:45] speaks to maybe some of the excitement that this rocket has taken off because of how technical [8:50] it is. [8:51] Yeah, I mean, it's quite a small space. There are four of them. They're going to be there [8:54] for at least 10 days. [8:56] You can imagine that it could be a little bit difficult living like that. [8:59] I mean, I personally wouldn't do it. If anyone's been on a caravan holiday, imagine that. But [9:03] you can't leave for 10 days. It's about five meters by three meters. It's very tight. I'll [9:07] tell you how tight it is. The toilet is under the exercise machine. So that gives you a [9:12] sense of the close quarters they're operating within. But obviously, they've been training [9:17] together for years. So they kind of are able to work closely together. And they have a [9:23] very tight schedule. [9:24] And part of that does kind of help with [9:26] the, I guess, some of the nerves, some of the mental load of having to go through this [9:31] as well. They each have their own responsibilities on board. And if you listen, there's a live [9:37] NASA 24-7 feed. If you're a real nerd and want to listen across that, you can hear the [9:40] different astronauts talking about their tasks. They're all very clear on what they have to [9:44] do. But right now, we're hearing they were quite cold on board, something they have to [9:49] consider as well. So much like being on a plane, they've been asked to get their suitcases [9:53] out and put their long sleeves on. [9:55] Yeah. [9:56] So there's the pressure of having to fly spacecraft, but deal with the normal, I guess, [10:00] troubles that we face when we travel. [10:01] Esme, thank you. Esme Stallard, the BBC science correspondent. If you'd like to hear more [10:06] from the Global News podcast, click the link below. But thanks for watching.