Why is it so hard to go back to the moon?

Re:Why is it so hard to go back to the moon? by pjc50 on Tuesday September 17, 2024 @11:36AM (#41568778)

Even the Soviet space programme, in the decades after losing something like twenty million lives in a war that everyone would rather have avoided, was not reckless with the lives of its astronauts. Because the astronauts and their training are themselves a valuable asset.

There's probably a lot to be written about the precise moral boundary, but Western culture is very against missions which are definitely suicidal while OK with those that merely have a very high chance of getting you killed.

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Re:Why is it so hard to go back to the moon? by potato3732842 on Tuesday September 17, 2024 @12:16PM (#41569252)

>Because the astronauts and their training are themselves a valuable asset.

Magellan, Hudson, Cook and a litany of others were certainly not cheap cannon fodder. Yet they were allowed to take on immense personal risk and risk to their crews, above and beyond the standards of the time because it was deemed worth it.

There is a fine line between reckless and acceptable risk. The cost of such endeavors absolutely pales in comparison to the long term potential for wealth creation for the rest of humanity by making the resources of other planets reachable.

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Re:Why is it so hard to go back to the moon? by BonoboIO on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @06:10AM (#41577875)

Vladimir Komarov would argue against your theory

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Re:Why is it so hard to go back to the moon? by avmich on Wednesday September 18, 2024 @08:07PM (#41587000)

Then why cosmonauts wrote a letter to Politburo suggesting sending them to fly around the Moon in Zond capsule even though it didn't have perfect flights? The reasoning was that the spacecraft deficiencies were correctable should a crew be onboard.

Wasn't there the same situation with Soyuz-1, when they thought the man onboard would help correct flight problems?

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