Astronauts explain the sad reason nobody has visited the moon in 50 years

Fifty years ago, the last person to ever touch the surface of the moon was Eugene Cernan, NASA’s former Apollo 17 commander.

But why has no one been back since December 1972?

Well, the answer may surprise you.

Back when Neil Armstrong took one leap for mankind, many expected other astronauts to visit more often, as technology continued to advance at a rapid pace.

However, with a now massive five decades between now and the last person to walk on the moon, what’s the hold up?

NASA has promised that we will soon see US astronauts back on the moon in the coming years, possibly as early as 2025.

According to a former NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, it is not because of technology or science limitations as many would have expected.

The man who ran the agency during the Trump administration told reporters in 2018: "If it wasn't for the political risk, we would be on the moon right now.

"In fact, we would probably be on Mars.

"It was the political risks that prevented it from happening.

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

In the past, astronauts who visited the moon would collect rocks, take photos and perform experiments, amongst other duties.

NASA Pictures / Alamy Stock Photo

But the Apollo program did not give them enough time to establish a lasting human presence on the moon.

However, that seems to be changing with NASA's Orion lunar spacecraft program, where it is hoped humans will be living on the moon for a prolonged period of time.

Speaking to BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg back in November of last year, following the launch of the Artemis rocket, NASA Chief Howard Hu said humans could be living on the moon in the next decade.

He said: "Certainly this decade, we are going to have people living for durations."

UPI / Alamy Stock Photo

"Depending on how long we will be on the surface, they'll be living, they'll have habitats, they'll have rovers on the ground.

"That's what we are also working on at NASA, so not only are we able to work in delivering people to the moon, but getting people on the surface of the moon, they still have to have infrastructure.

"Ultimately, it is more than living, it is really about science and geological aspects of it."

He continued: "It's the first step we're taking to long-term deep space exploration, for not just the United States but for the world.

"I mean, we are going back to the Moon, we're working towards a sustainable programme and this is the vehicle that will carry the people that will land us back on the Moon again."

NASA also has a program in the works called Artemis, which will bring the first women to ever touch the moon in an amazing development.

Regardless of budgeting issues and political risks, which has many fearing that visiting the moon again is all talk, NASA seem hopeful for a quick change of pace.