Astronaut Reveals The Real Reason Why No Human Has Been To The Moon In The Last 50 Years

Going to the moon has always been a major aspiration for humanity.

It's such an incredible accomplishment that, after achieving it a few times, we just sort of stopped and thought, "okay, that's enough."

If you witnessed Apollo 11's historic moon landing in 1969, the first time humans walked on its surface, you might have anticipated a larger lunar presence by now.

It's surprising that we don't have a bigger presence on the moon yet.

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Back in the 70s, people were likely dreaming up all kinds of future lunar possibilities: moon tourism, perhaps a theme park or even a casino!

But what they probably didn't anticipate was that the last human footsteps on the moon would be in 1972.

To this day, the fact that NASA managed to get 12 people on the moon still stands as one of the greatest feats achieved by the space agency, and perhaps by humanity as a whole.

However, it does make you wonder, why did we stop returning?

There are still plenty of reasons to head back to that dusty rock in the sky, and NASA has plans to send American astronauts there again by around late 2026.

So, why the long hiatus, anyway?

Well, according to astronaut Jim Bridenstine, who led NASA during the Donald Trump era, the barriers are neither scientific nor technological.

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In a 2018 conversation with reporters, he explained: 

"If it wasn't for the political risk, we would be on the moon right now. It was the political risks that prevented it from happening.

"The program took too long and it costs too much money."

Often, the reasons boil down to a combination of politics and finances.

For instance, NASA's budget for 2023 is $25.4 billion, and the Biden administration has proposed increasing this to $27.2 billion for 2024.

NASA putting 12 people on the moon remains one of the greatest achievements of the space agency Getty Stock Image

While this might seem substantial, the funds are divided across all of NASA’s divisions and their ambitious projects.

To put it in perspective, the US defense budget for 2023 is about $858 billion.

Moreover, with the funding coming from the government, Congress can be slow to approve budgets, which in turn slows down progress.

Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham has highlighted how challenging it can be to secure more government funding to send more astronauts to the moon.

During a 2015 discussion, he mentioned: "Manned exploration is the most expensive space venture and, consequently, the most difficult for which to obtain political support.

"NASA's budget is way too low to do all the things that we've talked about."

Furthermore, other astronauts have observed that promises made by one president regarding budget increases may not be upheld, as new presidents can simply ignore the commitments made by their predecessors.