But after six more missions (including Apollo 13, which famously suffered an accident that precluded them from landing on the lunar surface<\/a>), humanity\u2019s moon dreams were put to rest following Apollo 17 in December 1972.<\/p>\n Why did it end? Some cite various reasons for this: the costly Vietnam War, the fact that the U.S. had done what it had set out to do (beat the former Soviet Union to the moon) or that public interest had waned. Whatever the reason, it\u2019s been 53 years since humans went anywhere near the moon.<\/p>\n Now, that\u2019s changing with NASA\u2019s ambitious Artemis program, designed to return humans to the lunar surface within the next few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n But why bother heading back to the moon? How could that possibly benefit humanity?<\/p>\n \u201cWe go for science and we go for basically engineering development. You’re doing very difficult things that have never been done before,\u201d said Philip Stooke, professor emeritus and adjunct research professor at the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration at Western University in London, Ont. \u201cYou’re developing new techniques. And this is really the whole reason for doing human space flight right back to the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n The first human lunar test comes with Artemis II, slated to launch in early February. On board will be the Canadian Space Agency\u2019s Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch.<\/p>\n While they won\u2019t be landing on the moon, their 10-day mission will take them around the moon, where the four will travel the farthest any human has ever travelled before. They will test crucial hardware and perform various experiments designed to provide as much information as possible to the next crew for Artemis III<\/a>.<\/p>\n That mission is slated for 2028, and will see astronauts return to the lunar surface, specifically to the moon\u2019s south pole, a previously unexplored region (there have been a few attempts with landers, with two successful missions).<\/p>\n Technological advances<\/p>\n There\u2019s not just the Artemis program, which has 61 countries involved, that is aiming for the moon. China is hot on NASA\u2019s tail, with plans to have humans on the moon by 2030<\/a>. Then there\u2019s India: It has plans to put an astronaut on the moon by 2040<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The moon is a hot commodity.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t just about visiting the moon to prove that it can be done. This is about staying on the moon. And there are more than a dozen private companies<\/a> betting on it being a permanent endeavour. <\/p>\n To some, going to the moon may seem like a frivolous and expensive endeavour and that the money could be best spent in other ways<\/a>, such as on climate change or poverty.<\/p>\n But to space agencies and private companies, it\u2019s seen as an investment.<\/p>\n WATCH | Jeremy Hansen on why we’re going to the moon: Why are we going to the moon?<\/p>\n Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen answered audience questions live on Wednesday, including one about why we are going to the moon in the first place. Hansen will be the first Canadian to fly around the moon as part of the Artemis II mission next year.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the ways to understand \u2026 is the involvement of private companies. Private companies look at the profit. And that’s what they are. They are not into scientific development,\u201d said Ram Jakhu, an associate professor at McGill University’s faculty of law in Montreal. <\/p>\n \u201cThey know this is for exploitation. Exploitation of resources does not occur in a year or two years. Not in one shot. You’ve got to be there, extract the resources, capture those resources, process them, bring back.\u201d<\/p>\n ‘Science of the moon’<\/p>\n But there’s also science that trickles down to everyday human use on Earth.<\/p>\n \u201cScience of the moon specifically benefits people, but there’s another aspect to this and that is the medical, sort of space medicine, let’s say,\u201d Stooke said. <\/p>\n \u201cMonitoring people’s health remotely while they’re orbiting the moon isn’t that different from, let’s say, trying to monitor people’s health remotely because they’re living in the high Arctic and they can’t get to a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n But some technology can end up coming out of these sorts of space missions almost by accident. <\/p>\n \u201cI guess one of the things that people often comment on is computers. They’ll say, oh, the Apollo spacecraft had a computer on it, but my computer on my phone is a million times more powerful, and it’s true,\u201d Stooke said. <\/p>\n \u201cBut the thing is that we might not have what we have today in computers and in phones and I mean, practically everything has a computer chip in it these days, cars and everything. We might not have all that if those early developments hadn’t happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only did the Apollo space missions bring us computer technology, but they also helped us with food safety<\/a> and gave us things like cordless power tools, water purification systems and more.<\/p>\n Technology from the Canadarm has even been modified to be used in hospital surgeries<\/a>.<\/p>\n New space economy<\/p>\n This new era of lunar exploration can be seen by governments investing in companies.<\/p>\n For example, the Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation (formerly known as the Canadian Space Mining Corporation), was awarded a $1-million a low-enriched uranium nuclear reactor on the moon<\/a> by the Canadian Space Agency.<\/p>\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769882899_856_default.jpg\")
From left to right, Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist, pose for a photograph during the rollout of NASA\u2019s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 17. (NASA\/Kim Shiflett)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769882900_969_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769882900_532_default.jpg\")
Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques took this photo of the Canadarm2 during his mission on the International Space Station in 2018. (Canadian Space Agency\/NASA)<\/p>\n