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00:00 Today, there's a massive surge in Moon-related activity.
00:05 NASA is busy with the Artemis program.
00:08 India's ISRO is planning its first crewed mission to the lunar surface.
00:13 China and Russia are also in the race.
00:16 And then there are the private companies, bidding to disrupt and dismantle the status
00:22 quo.
00:23 But, underpinning it all, there's something of a mystery.
00:28 Because while the Apollo missions in the 60s and 70s delivered some iconic moments, why
00:33 did the Moon landings suddenly end?
00:37 This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question, "Why did we stop
00:43 going to the Moon?"
00:45 But also, how are we planning to return?
00:50 Do you need the big questions answered?
00:52 Are you constantly curious?
01:05 July 1969, history was made when the United States became the first country to put a man
01:11 on the Moon.
01:12 Then, in December of 1972, history was made again when the US became the last country
01:18 to put a man on the Moon, as the Apollo program was cancelled early following Apollo 17.
01:23 But what's the reason we abandoned the Moon in the 70s, never to return?
01:35 The most immediate and most understandable reason we've not yet gone back to the Moon
01:39 since the early 70s is that the United States government slashed NASA's federal budget,
01:44 rendering the agency unable to carry out expensive, dangerous space missions.
01:49 The Apollo program alone cost, at the time, $25.8 billion.
01:53 When adjusted for inflation, that's almost $260 billion.
01:57 After the US won the space race, the Soviet Union more or less stopped trying to compete,
02:03 despite an early lead, putting the first satellite in space, the first man in space, and sending
02:08 probes to the far side of the Moon and even Venus.
02:11 By the late 1960s, the Soviet space program's visionary engineer, Sergei Korolev, had died.
02:17 Without Korolev to push for the space program, the Soviet government would also cut funding.
02:22 And without the motivator of the Cold War competition, the US didn't see the point
02:26 in continuing to go to the Moon.
02:28 After all, at the time, there was no way to get any return investment from it.
02:32 In a lot of ways, the journey to the Moon was seen as a money pit, despite the public
02:36 support for space exploration.
02:39 But in 2017, the US announced its intention to return to the Moon.
02:42 This time, the aim will be to put the first woman up there.
02:45 However, that doesn't guarantee that the program will necessarily make its proposed
02:49 lunar flights in the mid-2020s.
02:51 After all, there already was a lunar return project in the 2000s, called Constellation.
02:56 It was cancelled by Obama in 2010 for being too expensive.
03:00 If it hadn't been cancelled, we might have already sent people back to the Moon, since
03:04 it was eyeing a 2020 landing date.
03:06 But if we already have the technology to go to the Moon because we already did it multiple
03:10 times in the 1960s and 70s, why is it taking so many years and costing so much money to
03:17 plan programs like Constellation and Artemis?
03:20 The Apollo program was launched in 1961, just eight years before the Moon landing.
03:25 Well, the simple truth is that we seem to have lost a lot of the technology and knowledge
03:30 that we used to go to the Moon in the 20th century.
03:33 While it's baffling to imagine that this could be the case, NASA in the wake of the
03:37 1972 budget cut was a different place… and it just wasn't able to preserve everything
03:43 from the program.
03:44 NASA's already come under fire before for not preserving vital things; specifically,
03:49 the raw footage of the Moon landing, which was taped over.
03:52 Of course, we do still have lots of footage of the Moon landing, because we have what
03:56 was broadcast on live TV at the time.
03:58 But the footage that was lost is the unprocessed, low-frame-rate feed that wasn't suitable
04:03 for broadcast.
04:04 It's not just those tapes, though.
04:07 Everything that came together to make the Moon landing happen doesn't really exist
04:11 anymore.
04:12 We might have the blueprints and schematics for lunar modules and rockets, but we don't
04:16 have the experts who made those blueprints into a physical spacecraft capable of landing
04:21 people on our nearest celestial neighbour.
04:23 Hundreds of thousands of people worked on the program, all of them exceptional engineers,
04:28 designers, and physicists.
04:30 Without those very same people, we're not able to get to the Moon in the same way that
04:34 we did in the sixties.
04:35 In fact, we don't even have access to the same building materials, because after the
04:39 budget cut, factories making unique components for space missions shut down.
04:44 So, we don't have that knowledge, either.
04:46 We've lost the technology we used because it was so monumentally complex… and that's
04:51 despite how much information about lunar technology is available in books and online.
04:56 And has been for decades.
04:57 While you can try to write it down as much as possible, there are always going to be
05:01 things that go unwritten.
05:03 Small modifications or calculations that were vital to the success of the mission, but which
05:07 have just been lost to time.
05:09 That's why we can't just rebuild all of the lunar modules and the Saturn V rocket
05:14 exactly as they existed in 1969 and set off to the Moon again.
05:19 Interestingly, though, people have attempted to reconstruct that equipment, specifically
05:23 the enormous F-1 engine present in the Saturn V rocket.
05:27 Over 360 feet tall, it's remained the largest and most powerful rocket ever used.
05:34 In the 2010s, there were efforts to rebuild an F-1 engine which hadn't been used since
05:38 1973, so that they could rediscover the technology and hopefully use it in the development of
05:44 future launch systems.
05:46 A group of young NASA engineers worked tirelessly to recreate the engine using materials and
05:50 information that they could scrounge from the archives and from museums.
05:55 Rediscovering this technology could help NASA save money in the future of space exploration,
06:00 as the F-1 engine, despite being absolutely huge, is a simple enough design.
06:05 But it was still an extremely difficult task to pull off, even with a component belonging
06:09 to the Saturn V. One of the most famous launch vehicles in the world, and possibly the most
06:14 integral to human space exploration.
06:17 There are yet other reasons not only why we can't use the technology recycled from Apollo,
06:22 but why it's probably better that we don't.
06:25 In the twenty-first century, there's a huge focus on sustainability and the environment.
06:30 Giant single-use rockets are bad for both of these things, hence the recent push towards
06:34 reusable vehicles.
06:36 Where reusable vehicles are concerned, SpaceX has the lead with the Falcon 9.
06:41 And other private companies, including Virgin and Blue Origin, are working on various modules
06:45 and components that will be good for multiple uses.
06:48 NASA is doing the exact same thing, and wants reusable components for Artemis.
06:52 We also have better technology now than we used to, and have done significantly more
06:57 research into space even without going onto the moon.
07:01 Simply put, with enough time, we can do everything the Apollo program did, but better.
07:06 Artemis is already budgeted to be far cheaper than Apollo, with a thirty-five billion dollar
07:10 price tag.
07:11 Artemis will also have the support of other leading space agencies, like the European
07:15 Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, as well as using equipment from SpaceX.
07:21 So, it has the backing of a tremendous amount of research and money.
07:25 Even if we did still have access to Apollo's technology right now, it just wouldn't be
07:30 fit for purpose anymore, because we've come such a long way.
07:33 Upsetting as it might be to think that the machines and the people that got us to the
07:37 moon aren't here anymore, no knowledge is truly immortal.
07:42 Everything is at risk of being lost in some way, either because it gets destroyed, or
07:45 because it's something deemed to be so simple at the time that it was never written down.
07:50 A prime example of this is Roman concrete, which is extremely sturdy and enduring.
07:56 But for years, we didn't understand why the concrete was so good, or why we'd failed
08:00 at recreating it.
08:02 It was finally discovered that the secret to the concrete is simple seawater and volcanic
08:07 ash.
08:08 Another long-lost mystery is how Damascus steel, which contains carbon nanotubes, was
08:12 forged in the Middle East hundreds of years ago.
08:15 Some researchers believe they've solved this mystery, but to many, it's still up for debate.
08:20 There's one final piece of the puzzle for why we don't just go back to the moon.
08:24 It's hard.
08:25 Sending humans to the moon and bringing them back is perhaps the most difficult and ambitious
08:29 scientific endeavour ever undertaken.
08:32 Of the many space agencies that now exist, NASA remains the only one to have sent people
08:37 to walk on the moon.
08:38 Even the China National Space Administration, the agency with the second-largest budget,
08:43 isn't any closer to accomplishing the feat.
08:45 Though twelve men walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972, we no longer have the complete
08:52 knowledge of how that happened.
08:55 Which is why we're developing newer, better ways to go back to the lunar surface in the
08:58 2020s.
09:00 And that's the real reason we haven't returned to the moon.
09:07 As the closest astronomical object to Earth, the moon is one of the few celestial bodies
09:11 that's visible with the naked eye.
09:13 It has enthralled humankind for as long as we've been a cognitive species.
09:18 And yet, despite thousands of years of observation, we're far from uncovering all its secrets.
09:23 Formed out of a collection of space debris, most likely created by a collision between
09:37 Earth and a protoplanet some 4.5 billion years ago, the moon, like the Earth, has been subject
09:44 to a bombardment of asteroid and meteorite crashes throughout its lifetime.
09:48 Unlike the Earth, however, which has processes such as erosion, plate tectonics, and volcanism
09:54 to continually refresh itself, the moon has no way of repairing its many collision sites.
09:59 It's effectively frozen in time, and the craters we see on its face today are the remnants
10:05 of a tumultuous past dating back billions of years.
10:09 There are parts of that past that we can chart with confidence, but others that we're still
10:13 not sure about.
10:15 Throughout human history, the moon has been observed as a method of keeping time, worshipped
10:20 as a deity across numerous civilizations, and even seen as a source of prophecy.
10:25 But still, after millennia of human analysis, centuries of astronomical observations, and
10:31 six crude lunar landings, there are some ultra-mysterious craters, etched deep into the surface, that
10:38 we still can't explain.
10:39 The first is the South Pole-Aitken Basin, which is the oldest and largest crater on
10:44 the moon, and one of the largest known craters in the solar system.
10:48 Being approximately 1,500 miles wide and five miles deep, it stretches far across the lunar
10:54 surface.
10:55 And, broadly speaking, we do know how it got there.
10:59 It's the product of a massive asteroid collision around four billion years ago.
11:04 But because the Aitken Basin is located on the far side of the moon, it's only been observable
11:09 to us since the earliest probes were sent that way in the early 1960s.
11:14 For most humans who aren't trained astronomers, it's totally hidden from Earth.
11:19 Although it continues to throw up mysteries for science to unpick, such as in 2019, when
11:24 a sizable, unexplained mass was detected beneath it.
11:28 Peter B. James is a professor of planetary science and geophysics at Baylor University
11:33 in the US.
11:34 In his study, Deep Structure of the Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin, he analysed data
11:39 from two key NASA moon missions, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to reveal
11:44 a massive, seemingly metal mass - reportedly five times the size of Hawaii - and apparently
11:50 suspended in the lunar mantle beneath the crater.
11:54 While scientists are unsure what the mysterious mass is, there are two main theories about
11:59 its origins and structure.
12:01 The first is based on the Lunar Magma Ocean Solidification Theory, which says that the
12:06 early moon was once host to fiery seas of magma that have since dried up, leaving only
12:11 their remnants on the face of the moon in the form of the dark spots that we can see
12:15 from Earth today.
12:17 As for the mass detected by Peter James, it's suggested that it is also an immense collection
12:22 of dense oxides, deposited at the same moment in lunar history during the cooling process
12:28 of the magma oceans.
12:29 It's a strong theory, but the prevailing theory at present suggests something else
12:33 - that the South Pole-Aitken Basin mass is actually a leftover material from the asteroid
12:39 that caused it to form in the first place.
12:42 An ancient asteroid, its iron-nickel core has somehow been prevented from sinking into
12:47 the moon's inner core, and so it has been eerily preserved, suspended in the lunar mantle
12:52 for all this time.
12:54 Not every crater has afforded such longevity, however, as shown by today's second example.
12:59 In 1824, the German astronomer and cartographer Wilhelm Lohrmann published a series of lunar
13:06 maps, appropriately titled "Topography of the Visible Surface of the Moon".
13:10 While these maps are still today celebrated for their accuracy, there's one crater depicted
13:15 in them that has triggered controversy ever since.
13:19 When observing one of the moon's youngest craters, located in the Sea of Serenity, Lohrmann
13:24 noted that what he called the "Linné Crater" was about five miles across.
13:28 This description was then supported by Lohrmann's fellow astronomers, Wilhelm Beer and Johann
13:33 Maedler, who published their own maps thirteen years later, in 1837.
13:38 And so, the Linné Crater remained unchanged for a further three decades, until a fresh
13:44 series of observations carried out in 1865 by one Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt.
13:51 Like his contemporaries, Schmidt had previously drawn many maps of the Linné Crater, always
13:56 finding it the same, or extremely similar, to Lohrmann's original.
14:00 When he re-observed it in 1866, though, he noticed that the whole was gone.
14:06 In the place where it should have been, there was now a simple, white patch with a small
14:11 mountain in the centre, that had seemingly shot up in less than thirty years.
14:16 Schmidt's discovery caused interest in the disappearing crater to skyrocket.
14:20 There followed a series of investigations by the top astronomers of the time, and it
14:25 was a Father Angelo Secchi of Rome who ultimately realised that the "mountain" noted by
14:30 Schmidt was actually a tiny crater itself, about one and a half miles across, and much
14:36 smaller than Lohrmann's original.
14:38 So, now, while science had shown that the Linné Crater hadn't disappeared, it was
14:43 widely agreed that it had shrunk.
14:45 So, what had caused such a sudden change?
14:48 At the time, it was generally believed that it was the result of lunar volcanism.
14:53 Although modern astronomers tend to reject this theory, despite there still being precious
14:57 few alternatives out there.
14:59 The leading counter-theory is that the differing observations, between Lohrmann in 1824 and
15:04 Schmidt in 1866, were simply due to the telescope limitations that both were working with.
15:10 The argument against that, however, is that the Linné Crater is easily distinguished,
15:15 without any other landmarks nearby to distract from it.
15:19 It seems unlikely, then, that so many experienced and esteemed astronomers would have continually
15:24 made the same mistakes.
15:26 And so, the true nature of the Linné Crater's metamorphosis remains a mystery.
15:31 Finally, we're headed to the northwestern region of the near side of the moon, and to
15:36 the 25-mile-wide Aristarchus Crater, famous amongst moon watchers as being the brightest
15:42 spot on the lunar surface.
15:44 It's also considered one of the most geologically complex regions of the moon, and it's known
15:48 for emitting a high concentration of generally baffling light activity.
15:54 Over the centuries, astronomers have witnessed hundreds of unexplained, sporadic flashes
15:58 of light across the moon.
16:00 They're collectively known as transient lunar phenomenon, but the Aristarchus Crater is
16:05 where so many of them appear to originate.
16:08 The first documented sightings date back to the 1500s, but it wasn't until 1650 that
16:14 the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius could use the still-relatively-new invention of
16:19 the telescope to more accurately observe where the illuminance was coming from.
16:24 And since then, it's been all eyes on Aristarchus.
16:27 Significantly, Hevelius also noted that the region inside the crater appeared mountainous.
16:33 Then, when Britain's William Herschel observed lights emitting from the same crater and mountains
16:38 more than a century later in the 1700s, he concluded that what Hevelius had truly observed
16:44 were volcanoes, suggesting that the flashing lights of Aristarchus doubled up as a display
16:49 of lunar volcanism.
16:51 But again, the claims of volcanic activity on the lunar surface are widely unsupported
16:56 by modern science.
16:57 Today, we know that while there are volcanoes present on the moon, they've been dormant
17:02 for millions of years.
17:04 As a result, the transient lunar phenomena omitting from Aristarchus is something which
17:08 continues to baffle scientists.
17:11 Perhaps the closest we came to discovering the true source of these glowing lights came
17:15 back in July of 1969, when the Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong also noted an odd luminescence
17:22 coming from the crater.
17:24 Unfortunately, he had other plans, and couldn't make an unscheduled landing on his way to
17:29 a tranquility base… all of which means that the mystery remains unexplained.
17:34 For many, we may never reveal the true nature of these particular lunar features until we
17:39 do visit them in person.
17:41 What's really hiding beneath the South Pole-Aitken Basin?
17:45 What's really happening with the Linne Crater's changing size?
17:49 And why on Earth are there flashing lights coming from Aristarchus?
17:53 Ultimately, the answers are not of this Earth.
17:57 But they are looking down on us.
18:02 Though the moon has been watching us stoically for billions of years, there are still plenty
18:06 of things we don't know about it.
18:08 We don't really know for sure how it formed, where it came from, and we especially know
18:12 very little about its dark side.
18:15 What mysteries are waiting to be solved on this hidden hemisphere?
18:22 Firstly, the name "dark side" of the moon is actually inaccurate, despite being
18:30 widely popularized by Pink Floyd's most famous and influential album.
18:35 The name scientists use for the moon's other hemisphere is "far side" of the moon,
18:39 because it's not any darker than the side that we can actually see.
18:43 Just like the near side, it still gets plenty of sunlight.
18:45 In fact, when Earth has a new moon, if you were in space on the opposite side, you'd
18:50 be seeing a full moon, as the entire hemisphere would be illuminated by the sun.
18:55 But it's still dark in a more abstract sense.
18:58 It's mysterious and still very unknown because of how difficult it is to actually get there.
19:03 Human eyes hadn't seen the far side of the moon at all until the Soviet Luna 3 probe
19:08 photographed it in 1959 - images that remain distorted and difficult to parse.
19:13 And it wasn't until Apollo 8, almost a decade later, that humans saw it in person - a privilege
19:19 that's been afforded to very few, even today.
19:22 When people first saw the far side of the moon, they were struck by how much more pockmarked
19:27 it was compared to the near side.
19:29 The near side of the moon does have a lot of craters, but it also has huge, grey regions
19:33 called the lunar maria, or mare.
19:36 These areas are so pronounced that you can easily see them with the naked eye when you're
19:40 looking at the moon on an ordinary night.
19:42 And indeed, they were named thousands of years ago by the Romans, who could see them just
19:47 like we can today.
19:48 The name "mare" is actually Latin for "sea", the same root that we get words like "maritime"
19:54 from.
19:55 It was believed that these grey expanses were actually seas.
19:58 In a sense, this was correct, but not in the way that the Romans thought.
20:02 The maria are huge fields of ancient lava, some dating back billions of years to the
20:07 formation of the Earth-Moon system.
20:10 When the moon formed, the near side was exposed to heat from the Earth, which was still extremely
20:14 hot.
20:15 This resulted in a thinner crust on the near side, with more aluminum and calcium condensing
20:20 in the atmosphere of the cooler far side.
20:23 And this is why the near side has fewer visible impact craters.
20:27 It's not that there were fewer asteroid impacts, but that the near side has had more volcanic
20:31 activity, and those craters are filled by volcanic flows.
20:35 The far side's thicker, less malleable crust has prevented maria, so we can see billions
20:41 of years' worth of impact craters there.
20:43 Though the maria are extremely old, the moon is constantly getting barraged by meteors
20:47 just like Earth.
20:49 In both cases, most meteors are small, but there's always the chance that there'll
20:53 be a large impact event.
20:55 But one popular theory about the far side of the moon isn't about these many impact
20:59 craters at all.
21:01 According to some, the far side of the moon is the best place in the solar system for
21:05 aliens to spy on us without being detected.
21:08 The moon itself blocks radio waves, meaning that if aliens were living there and producing
21:13 radio signals, we wouldn't be able to detect them.
21:16 Since the moon is so inhospitable, any race trying to survive there would have to be very
21:20 advanced, and so would almost certainly be using radio waves in some way or another.
21:26 It's also totally invisible to humans on Earth because of the way the moon is tidally
21:30 locked.
21:31 There is simply no way we could ever see the far side of the moon from Earth without using
21:35 a lot of complex equipment.
21:37 However, the same thing that makes it so difficult for us to detect alien life on the moon would
21:41 also make it very difficult for them to spy on us in the first place.
21:45 So it wouldn't necessarily be a great base of operations.
21:47 Still, this hasn't stopped conspiracy theorists from trying to find strange structures in
21:52 images on the far side of the moon over the years, going as far as to suggest that there
21:56 are castles and other buildings present on the surface.
21:59 In 2020, they claimed such structures were even visible in official images released by
22:04 NASA.
22:05 Because the moon blocks radio signals, there's only one way to communicate with objects on
22:09 the far side of the moon from Earth - a relay satellite.
22:12 Currently, there's only one relay satellite serving this function - the Chinese satellite,
22:17 Chuichao.
22:18 Chuichao was designed to be a relay between the Chang'e-4 lunar lander and the Yutu-2
22:23 rover, which landed on the far side of the moon in early 2019.
22:27 Without Chuichao, we would have no way to get any of the data the rover is sending back
22:30 to Earth.
22:31 And if we ever want to further explore the far side of the moon, we would need more of
22:35 these satellites.
22:36 Otherwise, the people there would be utterly stranded with no way to communicate with Earth.
22:40 Which obviously isn't ideal.
22:42 If aliens were hiding over there, they would also need relay satellites to spy on us, if
22:47 that's what they're doing.
22:48 But in that case, we should have been able to detect these satellites by now.
22:52 Satellites are notoriously difficult to hide, for multiple reasons.
22:56 But the main reason is that simply, you can see them.
22:59 Some satellites you don't even need a telescope to spot, just a pair of binoculars.
23:04 During the Cold War, scientists spent years trying to develop satellites that can't be
23:08 detected on radar, to little avail.
23:11 Even if you make them as camouflaged as possible, you still have the problem of infrared radiation.
23:15 They produce a lot of heat, and this makes them very easy to spot if you have specialist
23:20 instruments.
23:21 Admittedly, if aliens were living on the moon and had spy satellites, they could feasibly
23:25 have used technologies unknown to us to disguise them.
23:28 However, this simple act of blocking out radio communications may be a reason why it's more
23:33 interesting to look at what doesn't happen on the far side of the moon, rather than what
23:37 does.
23:39 Because it's a radio dead zone that doesn't get any radio signals from Earth beyond the
23:42 Chui Chau satellite, it's the perfect spot to build a radio telescope.
23:47 The idea of building a radio telescope on the moon has been floated many times over
23:50 the years, with NASA itself proposing such an idea as recently as 2020.
23:55 This particular plan is called the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope, or LCRT, and it would be
24:00 built in an impact crater on the far side of the moon.
24:04 NASA plans to build the LCRT using rovers and other robots, so that we don't need to
24:08 send a manned mission out there to undertake the gruelling lunar construction work.
24:13 But it's not exactly gotten off the ground yet.
24:15 As of writing, it's still in the proposal stage.
24:18 If we could get together the funding to put a radio telescope on the moon, there's no
24:21 telling what we'd be able to find, and we wouldn't have to worry about Earth interference.
24:26 For instance, the famous "wow" signal detected in 1977 has widely been reported
24:31 as potential evidence of intelligent alien life trying to communicate.
24:35 But many have suggested that the "wow" signal didn't come from outer space at all,
24:39 but from somewhere on Earth.
24:41 This isn't a popular theory, and it's generally accepted that the "wow" signal
24:45 did come from space, even if it's unlikely that it was an alien communication.
24:49 But it does go to show just how tricky detecting alien radio signals is, with so much white
24:55 noise coming from Earth.
24:56 By building the LCRT, or any other radio telescope, on the far side of the moon, we'd be one
25:02 step closer to detecting aliens.
25:05 The moon's potential as an alien detector is one big reason why the SETI Institute actually
25:10 advocates against sending missions to the far side of the moon.
25:14 For example, it objected to China's Chongrui-4 mission on the basis that it would create
25:18 too much radio noise there.
25:21 The far side of the moon is the most unfamiliar part of our closest celestial neighbour, and
25:25 we still have a lot to learn about what goes on there.
25:28 Perhaps one day in the future we could use it to our advantage.
25:31 But until then, it's a solar system location that's relatively close to us, and yet one
25:36 that will remain shrouded in mystery to a certain degree.
25:39 The theories are sure to continue, and the intrigue is sure to remain.
25:47 Everybody has dreamed of living on other planets for years.
25:50 Before we can do that, however, we need to learn more about living on extraterrestrial
25:54 surfaces.
25:55 Our neighbour satellite, the moon, seems the perfect place to practice.
25:58 Science fiction often portrays moon bases as massive dome structures and settlements
26:02 teeming with aliens, but what would it actually be like?
26:13 We live in a time where science is beginning to resemble what was once science fiction.
26:17 We have robots capable of advanced thought and movement, printers capable of creating
26:22 3D objects, and yes, we even have missions to establish lunar outposts.
26:26 NASA's Artemis program plans to establish a space station called the Lunar Gateway and
26:31 a human landing system on the surface.
26:33 The Lunar Gateway will act as a waypoint, easing travel and facilitating construction.
26:38 China has similar ambitions and aspires to build a base near the moon's south pole
26:41 within the next ten years.
26:43 The newest lunar race is due to the fact that our moon provides a good training ground before
26:48 we attempt to colonize Mars.
26:50 The moon is only a three-day trip from home, so if anything goes wrong, it'll be much
26:54 easier to fix.
26:55 It's looking more and more like we'll have real-life moon bases within the next
26:58 decade.
26:59 Though the initial moon settlers will be astronauts and scientists, it's only a matter of time
27:04 before tourists are allowed to visit and even live there.
27:07 Private companies such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures all have plans
27:12 to jump on the tourism industry and take people to space.
27:15 With private companies looking into it, we'll soon have faster and more efficient ways of
27:19 getting to the moon.
27:20 What would lunar bases actually look like?
27:22 Any base will have to be layered for protection, as the moon's surface offers a variety of
27:27 challenges.
27:28 Temperature, radiation and potential meteorite impacts are all constant threats that could
27:32 spell ruin.
27:33 To combat these conditions, early settlers will likely dig out dens beneath lunar craters.
27:38 Robotic rovers will assist in covering these dens with moon rocks and dust for extra protection.
27:43 This option provides a much safer way to live than by constructing large domes, because
27:47 domes are susceptible to being pummeled with meteorites that frequent the moon's surface.
27:51 It's hit daily with 6,172 pounds of space rock.
27:56 Many meteorites also strike Earth, but our atmosphere burns most up before they can reach
28:00 the surface.
28:01 In time, we may build strong enough domes or structures to live in, and SpaceX wants
28:05 to eventually build a rocket base on the moon for easier take-off.
28:09 But in the early days, we'll be digging underground to avoid the unforgiving conditions.
28:13 We'll also need access to food and water in our crater bases.
28:17 Our food will likely come in two varieties; imported from Earth and grown on the moon's
28:21 surface.
28:22 Learning to grow food in harsh conditions will be an important step to cultivating food
28:25 on Mars and other planets.
28:27 Lunar soil is difficult to farm with, but researchers have had some success in growing
28:31 tomatoes, quinoa, peas and radishes, so these could be a staple of lunar meals.
28:36 The moon is close enough to shuttle up food if the need arises as well, so lunar settlers
28:41 will also receive care packages from Earth to vary their food intake.
28:44 Water, however, will mostly be mined from the moon itself to avoid the costs of delivering
28:49 it via shuttle.
28:50 In addition to the plans of transforming lunar water into rocket fuel, we'll likely use
28:53 the rest to drink.
28:55 Storaging water will also be an essential task on Mars and any other planet, so it will
28:59 need to be well-practiced.
29:01 Since there's no water cycle on the moon, we'll have to manually recycle the water
29:04 in our urine, sweat and showers to purify for drinking again - a process astronauts
29:09 perform regularly.
29:10 Daily leisure time will play an important role in maintaining a stable mental condition
29:14 in such a foreign environment.
29:16 Astronauts have access to TV on the International Space Station via their laptops, which NASA
29:21 can send shows to.
29:22 There's a likelihood of it being available on the moon, as well.
29:25 However, television will likely take a backseat to other recreational activities once they
29:29 become options.
29:31 The moon is going to have a need for vehicles that can transport supplies and materials
29:35 around, and eventually, a taxi service is likely to pop up for tourists to take them
29:39 to iconic locations.
29:41 These vehicles will be built to travel on the moon with ease and provide comfort for
29:44 the riders inside.
29:46 Popular tourist attractions might include the poles where water is being mined, or to
29:49 the site of the first Apollo 11 landing.
29:52 Spacewalking could also be hugely popular, but might die down as people get used to the
29:56 low gravity and the ways to walk in it.
29:58 Walking in low gravity won't be the only thing that people living on the moon will
30:01 have to deal with on a daily basis.
30:04 Spacesuits will also be required at all times outside of their homes or bases, and this
30:08 will be a nuisance for many.
30:10 Current spacesuits take an average time of about 45 minutes to fully dawn, and another
30:14 hour of simply breathing in the pure oxygen to allow the body to adapt to the low-pressure
30:19 environment.
30:20 People will likely plan their days out so that they have to change into or out of their
30:23 spacesuits as few times as possible.
30:26 Every time they re-enter or leave buildings, they'll need to go through an airlock instead
30:30 of just turning a doorknob.
30:31 Moon days will also take some getting used to, as one lunar day is equal to 29.5 Earth
30:37 days.
30:38 That means that day and night both last for about two weeks each, and moon settlers will
30:42 have to learn how to live in constant darkness and light.
30:45 As for employment on the moon, many lunar residents will be engineers and scientists
30:49 for companies like SpaceX or NASA.
30:51 Other people might make a living by operating the rovers that take supplies back and forth,
30:55 or by transporting people to popular sites or launch pads.
30:59 Though this may sound like the far future, lunar stations are close to becoming reality.
31:03 After researchers set up permanent bases on the moon and learn how to live in them, it's
31:07 only a matter of time before space tourists pay money to visit the surface, too.
31:11 Eventually, it may even be possible to live on the moon permanently, much like those who
31:15 plan to go to Mars and never return.
31:17 It'll be a very different experience than living anywhere on Earth, and it'll be exciting
31:22 and awe-inspiring to see our own home planet from above in all of its glory.
31:26 Relaxing and simply watching the Earth might be a popular activity, as people point out
31:30 the locations they once called home.
31:33 And that's what living on the moon in real life will be like.
31:37 So what's your verdict?
31:38 Let us know in the comments!
31:40 Do you think there are good reasons why we haven't been to the moon since 1972?
31:45 Or are you frustrated by the lack of progress?
31:48 In your opinion, is there anything concerning about the variously unexplained craters, or
31:55 about what could be happening on the infamous dark side?
31:59 And finally, if we ever do get to live on the moon, will you be the first or last in
32:06 line to go there?
32:33 As for now, that's why we stopped going to the moon, but also how we should soon be
32:40 returning.