“Lunar image animation.” Author, Tom Ruen, 2007. Image: wikimedia.
Fifty years ago, humans set foot on the moon, reaching the lunar destination through NASA’s Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong, first person to alight on the lunar surface, famously proclaimed: That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. As lunar explorations continue, what will life be like on the moon in 2069? Scientists from China, Europe, Russia, and the USA, among others, project several developments.
Lunar Life in 2069:
Chinese Academy of Sciences’ National Space Science Center: “Tourism for space holidays; hotel staff (some robotic) will live on the moon, perhaps in seasonal shifts.”
Earthrise Alliance: “The moon will be like Antarctica today – mainly science, some rarified tourism, limited habitation.”
European Space Agency: “Science, with an emphasis on shared projects among many nations.”
NASA: “Public/private cooperation with scientific partnerships. Tourism from private industry.”
Russian Academic of Sciences’ Space Research Institute: “The moon will look like a resort.”
Source: Boyle, 2019.
One thing is certain: innovation. Expected to arrive on the lunar surface soon: a nuclear power station, missions of exploration for water, minerals, and maybe even evidence of microbial life, fossilized now in rock. Among visions developed during the last fifty years, Frank P. Davidson suggested Lunar U, an educational program for universities offering the ultimate study abroad. Meanwhile, if you weren’t watching in July 1969, here’s a video.
Boyle, Alan. “The moon in 2069: Top space scientists share their vision for lunar lifestyles.” World Conference of Science Journalists, Lausanne, Switzerland. 2 July 2019. GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2019/moon-2069-space-officials-share-visions-future-lunar-lifestyles/
Griffin, Gerry “Moon Landing: Wow, it worked!” Witness History. BBC. 17 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-48955513/moon-landing-wow-it-worked
NASA, “Apollo 11 Moon Mission.” https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/apollo11_hdpage.html
Wenz, John. “Life on the Moon? Maybe long ago.” 23 July 2018. Astronomy. http://www.astronomy.com/news/2018/07/life-on-the-moon/.
Appreciation to George H. Litwin for this topic, and Frank P. Davidson for lunar future visions.
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licen
