In July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people the walk on the surface of the Moon. Over the next three years, they were followed by a further ten astronauts spread over five more Apollo missions. Eugene Cernan was the last astronaut to step off the Moon in 1972 and since then, nobody else has been back! Many people believe the real reason for America wanting to go to the Moon in the first place was to prove its technological supremacy over the Soviet Union. After achieving this goal, there seemed little point in going back. Interest in missions to the Moon declined and it became more and more difficult to justify the massive amount of financial backing that was needed for space travel. The American government had to reduce its funding to NASA, so scientists had to think of other things to do with their space money rather than going to the Moon and back every few months. The Apollo missions ended with Apollo 17 in 1972, and projects were started to explore other parts of the Solar System. The unmanned Viking probes went to Mars in 1975, and two Voyager probes flew by the giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The Space Shuttle was developed, designed as a reusable vehicle for manned space travel. It was first launched in 1981 and is still in use today. However, the Space Shuttle was not designed to go to the Moon and instead spends most of its time in low Earth orbit, meaning that it stays fairly close to Earth. Apart from a few unmanned missions, the Moon has largely been ignored. But, not for much longer!

In 2006, American President George W. Bush announced that America would be going back to the Moon, and would also be building a permanent base there. With Mars being the next target for manned space exploration, it is important that we get used to long distance space travel again. And what better place to practice than the Moon? With the fleet of Space Shuttles scheduled to be retired in 2010, work has begun to design its replacement. Currently known as Orion, the spacecraft will carry out several Space Shuttle style missions, such as taking astronauts to and from the International Space Station and launching satellites. However, unlike the Space Shuttle, Orion will be designed to go the Moon.  

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