Lunar return: how efforts to get boots back on the moon are gathering pace

The Apple TV series For All Mankind is built on a simple, intriguing premise: what if the space race hadn’t ended. Instead of crewed lunar exploration fizzling out within a few short years of Armstrong and Aldrin’s iconic moment, what if the United States and Russia continued to drive each other forward, colonising the Moon and eventually Mars. It’s an alternate reality thought experiment packaged up as prestige television, one that raises questions around humanity’s choices and ambition in the wake of Apollo.

More than 50 years have now passed since Apollo 17, the final crewed mission to the Moon. In the interim, robotic exploration, space instrumentation and the International Space Station have all taken precedence, as the Moon landings receded into history. But with the success of the Artemis 1 mission just over a year ago, humanity once again stands on the verge of putting boots on the lunar surface. And though NASA is very much to fore, the Americans are not embarking on this adventure alone.