HAMPTON, Va. (WVEC) — The United States hasn't set foot on the moon since 1972, but now it's about to go back. Hopefully, using the lessons learned there to eventually get to Mars.
For the first time in nearly five decades, the U.S., along with private industry and international partners, has committed itself to return to the moon.
"But not just going back once, we're going back as a sustained presence to help us understand how to live and work in space, live on another planetary body, and then move out from there into the rest of the solar system, with the next destination being Mars," said Dave Bowles, Director of the NASA Langley Research Center.
First, they'll send robots to the moon, followed by men, which could start by 2028.
NASA will be joined in the endeavor by nine American commercial companies as well as international partner nations.
"We're going back to the moon," said NASA Langley Deputy Director Deborah Tomek. "We're going to Mars. We're going further into the solar system. Let's not do it alone. Let's do it with all these other companies, academics and internationally."
Some of the crucial technology, like the Lightweight Surface Manipulation System, is being developed now at the NASA Langley Research Center.
"We want to develop these capabilities so that we can explore, we can provide for scientific discovery and we can also reduce the cost of human exploration," said NASA Langley Acting Deputy Director Jonathan Ransom.
NASA Langley Space Architect Pat Troutman said partnering with private companies and international partners is smart.
"So as a world, together, we can work towards building this vision of extending humanity into deep space, and then, on to Mars," he said.
In other words, to infinity and beyond, and a lot sooner than you might've thought.
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