Why can't NASA do another moon landing until the far future?

Question

You would think it would easier and cheaper...

Answer 1

In one word, MONEY; expanded version reads "money talks and bs walks."

Answer 2

So, we COULD do the Apollo program as it was.  Build a Saturn rocket, etc.  We'd need to use more modern electronics because the old ones are not available.  But these things are fairly easy.

But we don't want to do the exact same thing.  We want to do more.  So, we design and test new rockets, etc., and expand the scope of the mission.

For that matter, Apollo expanded the scope of it's missions.  The first lander did not have a rover.  That came later.

Answer 3

They need to build a new rocket (the apollo rockets are 50 years old and the shuttle can't go that far). And NASA doesn't have the budget it had back then. Then they had 4% of the national budget, now only a fraction on a %.

Answer 4

Politics and popular opinion prevent NASA from being what it used to be.

Answer 5

1. They can't spend as much money as they did in the 60s.

2. It's a different mission, this time it's not just "fly up, walk around, fly back" it's about much longer times.

3. Risks that were acceptable during the Cold War, would be unacceptable today.

Answer 6

a better question is "Why do you want to go back to the Moon?"

its really dull.

dulldulldulldull....

I am talking Golf on TV dull.

watching the NFL Draft dull.

reading the Congressional Record dull.

boring too.

as boring as a "Dancing with the Stars" marathon.

as boring as the Weather Channel on a sunny day.

hope this helped