Survival on the Moon will lay the foundation for explorations to Mars

The launch of Artemis II – the first manned mission around the Moon since Apollo 17 – scheduled for February 6, inaugurates a new phase in space exploration that points towards an expansion of socioeconomic activities in the lunar environment.

This is stated by Gustavo Medina Tanco, a researcher at the UNAM Institute of Nuclear Sciences, who believes that “this process of economic expansion has already begun in the orbits around the Earth, and the next step is to advance towards other bodies in the solar system, where the first thing you encounter is the Moon.”

In interview with The DayMedina Tanco points out that unlike the Apollo program, developed half a century ago in full cold warwhen space exploration was completely in the hands of the State and responded to a logic of geopolitical competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, Artemis emerged in a radically different context.

He emphasizes that currently, the race for the Moon involves not only powers such as the United States and China, but also private companies (Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos) and international alliances, with a perspective in which the Moon, more than a destination, is conceived as an interplanetary logistics platform.

“The last time a similar process of economic and social expansion was experienced was 500 years ago, with the discovery of America,” highlights the scientist.

For Medina Tanco, this expansion into space, which is expressed through the Artemis program, will bring profound transformations: debates on space legislation, resource governance, rights and responsibility. “The space sector is at a historic moment, we are seeing a kind of revolution,” he emphasizes.

The Moon is the closest celestial body to Earth, it has a surface similar to that of a continent and concentrates a diversity of strategic materials. One of these is helium-3, an isotope of helium, very rare on Earth, but abundant in the lunar regolith, with a high potential as fuel for nuclear fusion, making it a valuable resource for the energy future.

“At the time of the Apollo missions, we did not return to the Moon because the technology was very expensive and there was no way to sustain economic activity. Today that scenario changed. And although the Artemis missions will not create the lunar business model, they do seek to enable the technological conditions so that this model can exist,” says the UNAM scientist.

According to the official site of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Artemis II It is the first manned flight test of the Artemis campaign, and its main objective is to lay the scientific and technological foundations for a sustained human presence beyond Earth orbit.

The mission has as its predecessor Artemis I, launched in November 2022 without a crew, and will be followed by Artemis III, which provides for the return to the lunar surface to explore the south pole of the satellite; while Artemis IV will be oriented towards the construction of the first lunar space station, Gateway, which will support the most distant human space missions.

A central part of Artemis II is to test the spaceship Orion in its ability to perform manned flights into deep space and return to Earth. Orion It is designed to provide protection against solar radiation and high-speed entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as advanced and reliable technologies for communication and life support.

For the researcher, the results regarding human survival, life support technologies and logistics that Artemis returns will lay the foundation for future explorations to Mars.

“The idea is no longer to go, plant a flag and return. The objective is to develop a sustained presence: orbital stations around the Moon, recurring missions to the surface, habitats, robots and an infrastructure that allows learning to live and work there,” he says.

The moon will become a laboratory where the expansion of humanity beyond Earth is tested.