Luna27

The return of humans to the Moon

European and Russian space agencies are preparing a new space mission to come back to the mood. They want to explore the Moon’s south pole and search water and raw materials to make fuel there and, if is possible, settle down permanently. The mission is called Luna27 and is set to carry out in five years.

According to Prof Igor Mitrofanov, of the Space Research Institute in Moscow, the 21st century will be the permanent outpost of human civilization. Mitrofanov says that all the countries have to work together, not as the 60s and 70s when the first world powers competed for the “special race”.

In this way, one of the first intentions of the new head of the European Space Agency was to create an international group of work to build the mission.

The initial mission will be robotic. Luna27 will land in the darkness part of the Moon which is one of the coldest parts of the solar system. There can be icy water or chemical substance that the sun hit has not damage. Scientific think the South pole of the Moon is a completely different environment with an extreme cold and, for this reason, you could find water-ice and the chemistry which is in the surface.

Scientifics from the mission also think that the fact of building a permanent human presence in the Moon surfaces will have a lot of benefits: for astronomical observations, the use of minerals and other resources from the Moon or as a starting point for the future flight to Mars.

Nowadays there are already partners who are developing a new type of landing system able to decide for itself which area is safe of not for the landing. Europe is also proving the drill which should go down and collect all kind of materials and substances. And a miniaturized laboratory will be provided for the searching of the key ingredients with which oxygen, fuel and water could be made.

This sentence summarizes the importance of this mission for the scientifics and the humanity: "This whole series of missions feels like the beginning of the return to the Moon, but it is also starting something new in terms of overall exploration of the Solar System,"