Humans were last sent to the Moon five decades ago. Since then science has made a lot of progress. Rover has been sent till Mars, but all the agencies seemed to ignore the moon. In such a situation, the question arises that why the space station is not being built on the Moon. Why is this task so difficult even today?
The American space agency NASA will now work keeping in mind the long missions in space. She took this decision ever since she is preparing for her manned missions to Mars. Keeping this in mind, NASA has planned its Artemis campaign. In space too, the International Space Station has a lot of importance. China's own space station is also ready and Russia can also launch its own space station in five years. In such a situation, the question arises that why the space agencies are not setting up space stations on the Moon.
station may be useful
The space station on the Moon can be very useful. This could be very useful for future space missions. It can be a useful stop for journeys away from Earth with the purpose of traveling far into the Solar System or the Milky Way Galaxy. Not only this, we cannot send more people to the moon. Between 1969 and 1972, only 12 people could go to the moon and after that no effort was made.
not so powerful rocket
The Saturn 5 rocket used for the passengers sent to the Moon was very powerful, which is no longer produced. This means that at present we do not have such a powerful rocket anywhere in the world that can take people to the moon, the space station is far away.
construction has started
Now the manufacture of such a powerful rocket has started. The SpaceX company is building a powerful rocket with such capability that can take people to the Moon. NASA is also preparing a special SLS rocket for its Artemis mission, which will be tested this year, so that around 2025, it will send a separate man and a woman to the moon under the Artemis mission.
Difference between short journey and space station
Even after this, there is a big difference between making short trips and building a space station, and therefore it is very difficult to build a space station on the Moon. One way is to make parts of the Moon's space station on Earth itself and connect them by taking them to the Moon. It will be like the International Space Station. The parts of which were joined by the astronauts.
distance difference
At present, the International Space Station is 400 kilometers away from the Earth, while the distance of the Moon is 384 thousand kilometers. A trip to the Moon would take three days and would require a huge amount of fuel, which could increase climate problems on Earth. It is better to build a base as much as possible from the material available on the Moon itself. Lunar concrete testing is also going on for this.
more needs
Concrete on Earth requires sand, ballast, cement and water, and none of these are found on the Moon. Nevertheless, there is dust and sulfur on the moon, if these are mixed and mixed, then on cooling, the earth becomes solid from many substances. At the same time, the needs of the passengers staying on the space station like food, electricity, energy for breathing etc. will also have to be thought of. Work is underway on the techniques of food production that would be possible on the Moon.
Experiments are also going on seriously on the production of electricity on the Moon. Solar energy will be available only for 14 days because there sunlight can stay for 14 days only. This can be solved only by building stations at the poles where solar energy can be found continuously. Apart from this, instead of the surface of the moon, a satellite orbiting it can also be developed like a space station. NASA is also planning for this.