According to the article called, “Moon or Mars?  ‘Next giant leap’ sparks debate,”  scientists plan on traveling to the moon by 2020. The astronauts would inhabit the moon for six months by the year 2025. NASA’s goal is to make the astronauts feel at home on the moon in order to prepare them for their next possible journey: to Mars. If they are able to live on the moon, why not Mars? $0 NASA plans on replacing the space shuttles with a new fleet, once called the “Apollo on Steroids.” This is the same vehicle that landed the astronauts on the moon six times during the ’60s and ’70s.  The scientists will use new and improved technologies but essentially the same design. If NASA were to go through with this plan, it would cost them up to $100 billion but they are currently looking for alternatives. $0$0  In the past, astronauts and the space cargo were carried in the same shuttle, but this time around there will be two shuttles to bring both the astronauts and cargo separately. With the new and improved space shuttle, astronauts will be able to land anywhere on the moon. In the beginning, the astronauts will only go to the moon for seven-day periods in order to set up some facilities. After that, they will travel to Mars for up to 180 days. Scientists think this will be a huge stepping stone for their trip to Mars. If they can survive this and Mars, who knows how far humans will get. We may even be able to travel to other planets in the Milky Way and study them in a more intimate way–although we will have to see how the trip to the moon goes. It all depends on whether the astronauts feel it’s safe enough to continue exploring. $0$0 There are so many possibilities and to think humans have made it this far. Soon we may be able to really travel into the depths of space. The future leaves us with so many questions and all of them left unanswered. Hopefully astronauts will help the public understand what space holds for mankind after having had more experience outside of Earths atmosphere.$0
