Why Isn’t Space Station Established on the Moon?

Every year, a series of space missions are carried out to solve mysteries in the depths of the universe. Some of these are completed successfully, while others are concluded without reaching their goal. Even in 2021 alone, many space missions failed due to technical glitches. But these failures also pave the way for future successful missions.

One of the things that could prove extremely useful in the development of space missions and space exploration could be to build a space station on the Moon. But building any structure on the Moon, which has only been visited a few times so far, is not that easy. We sought an answer to the question of why a space station could not be built on the Moon, according to the article published in The Conversation as part of the Curious Kids series.

Why can’t we go to the moon?

The most important reason for not building a space station on the Moon is the inability to send people to the Moon very often. Because so far, only 12 astronauts have been sent to the Moon. These visits also took place with the Apollo missions that took place between 1969 and 1972. The rocket that brought the astronauts to the Moon was an extremely powerful rocket called the Saturn V. Today, rockets equivalent to this rocket have started to be produced again.

For some of the missions NASA plans to take its astronauts to the Moon in the coming years, SpaceX is working to develop more advanced rockets that can carry the weight of astronauts. There is no doubt that building a space station on the Moon will be extremely useful in future space missions. However, considering the current space technology, it does not seem possible to establish such a station.

Why isn’t a space station built on the moon?

While even short-term visits to the Moon are so challenging, building a space station on the Moon is difficult for many reasons. The creation of a space station on the Moon, just like the International Space Station; It can be accomplished by transporting parts built in pieces on Earth to the Moon and assembling them there. But the International Space Station is only 400 kilometers (250) miles from Earth, while the Moon is about 384,000 kilometers (230,000 miles) from Earth. Each trip to the moon will take days and will require a lot of fuel. It is thought that this will trigger the climate crisis that our world is facing while trying to explore the universe.

Considering the use of materials on the surface of the Moon or the need for food and power sources at this station, alternative methods are being considered. Considering all the needs and possibilities, it will be concluded that there is no need for a base on the surface of the moon, and NASA plans to build a satellite into the orbit of the moon in the coming years. Considering the intense gravity on the Moon’s surface, building a satellite into the Moon’s orbit can avoid the need for fuel for rockets.

For this reason, at least with current space technologies, it may be more functional to place a satellite in the orbit of the Moon instead of establishing a space station on the Moon.