NASA Plans Return To The Moon

On July 20th 2015, NASA announced that it has plans to return humans to the Moon within the next 5 years. A new study conducted by NexGen Space LLC, and funded by NASA, says that a partnership between NASA and private companies could make it possible to send humans back to the Moon within 5 to 7 years for approximately $10 billion. The study further states that a permanent base could be built on the moon within 10 to 12 years after that. 

According to Charles Miller, president of NexGen, by entering a private-public partnership with companies like SpaceX, Orbital ATK, and United Launch Alliance, NASA could cut its cost for establishing a human presence on the Moon "by a factor of 10." This could help NASA expand its plans for future missions without exceeding its estimated $4 billion a year space flight budget. The costs would be spread between the companies who would essentially place bids for various contracts.

Establishing a base or colony on the Moon would create an opportunity to mine for natural resources. Scientists believe that there is as much water on the Moon as there is in the great Salt Lake in Utah. The water is frozen at the Moon's poles, and rovers would be sent to the Moon to retrieve it and convert it into hydrogen. The hydrogen would then be sent into orbit around the Moon, where spacecraft would collect it.

The first robotic team could return to the moon as early as 2017. Rovers could search for hydrogen in 2018 while prospecting could begin in 2019 or 2020. Robots could begin building a permanent base in 2021, with humans landing on the Moon a year later.