Why go to the moon? The many faces of lunar policy

What is it about the Moon that captures the fancy of humankind? A silvery disk hanging in the night sky, it conjures up images of romance and magic. It has been counted upon to foreshadow important events, both of good and ill, and its phases for eons served humanity as its most accurate measure of time. This paper discusses the Moon as a target for human exploration and eventual settlement. This paper will explore the more than 50-year efforts to reach the Moon, succeeding with space probes and humans in Project Apollo in the 1960s and early 1970s. It will then discuss the rationales for spaceflight, suggesting that human space exploration is one of the least compelling of all that might be offered. The paper will then discuss efforts to make the Moon a second home, including post-Apollo planning, the Space Exploration Initiative, and problems and opportunities in the 2004 Vision for Space Exploration, and cancellation of that program in 2010.

► The Moon was long a goal for human exploration, and the Apollo program was in part a realization of that goal.
► Regardless, Apollo would not have happened in the way that it did had it not been for the Cold War superpower rivalry manifested in the space race.
► Since the conclusion of Apollo in 1972, there has been a dearth of political will to return to the Moon.
► Some even question whether humanity went during Apollo.