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- [Voiceover] The moon, our
closest celestial companion.

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Our indispensable dance
partner through the cosmos.

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Lighting our night sky and
gently tugging at our shores.

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Few have walked on her surface,

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but her allure remains strong.

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Once again, we are glancing
her way with renewed interest

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and with a view to returning very soon.

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(exciting orchestral music)

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- [Voiceover] Huston,
Tranquility Base here.

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The eagle has landed.

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- [Voiceover] Roger ...

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- [Cathy] When I was a little girl and

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people were always asking me,

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"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

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And I used to always go,
"I want to work up there."

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As an engineer

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you dream of a job like this

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where you get to follow in the footsteps

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of some of your childhood heroes.

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And, of course, for me the Apollo mission,

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seeing these folks on TV step on the moon

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and work for NASA.

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As an engineer it's just
a dream to be able to say,

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"You know, I want to do that too."

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And here I am.

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- [Voiceover] Only a dozen Americans

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have kicked the dirt on the lunar surface.

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It was a bold and dangerous
engineering achievement

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driven by a political agenda.

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- The Apollo program was important

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because it showed that we
could leave our home planet

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and visit an object like the moon.

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However, what we want to do next,

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is learn how to live and
work off of our home planet

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on another planetary
surface, like the moon.

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By developing this capability,

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we'll be able to know how to

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go throughout the inner solar system,

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which has many important destinations

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both for science understanding,

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and also may have economic importance

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for not only our generation,
but for future generations.

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- [Voiceover] The Soviet Union and the US

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had peppered the lunar surface

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with soft and hard landing spacecraft.

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The Soviets' Lunar 24 was
the last of that program,

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returning soil samples that
contained traces of water.

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Much of science and technology
has advanced since the 1970s.

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The mechanism of world
politics has evolved,

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new partnerships have formed,

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new players are looking
skyward, and more recently,

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private enterprise has
taken up the challenge.

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With the faintest of
inklings that there may be

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usable water on the moon,

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a forensic focus has turned
to the southern polar region.

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Scientific programs in the
90s refocused on the moon.

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Japan was the first to
revive lunar research

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and only the third nation
to achieve lunar orbit

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with Hiten on a dust collecting mission.

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The US followed with Clementine,

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a joint NASA-military project.

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It completed a mapping
survey of the lunar surface

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along with gravitational data

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and evidential proof of possible water ice

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hidden in a south polar
crater in permanent darkness.

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Four years later a lunar prospector mapped

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lunar resources, gravity,
and magnetic fields.

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It was also impacted into the
southern region of the surface

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to elicit more evidence of
water ice hidden in the craters.

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Europe's contribution to this resurgence

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in lunar exploration,

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began with the launch of Smart-1.

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This tiny, ion-propelled satellite

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cataloged key chemical
elements on the surface.

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It also enhanced the theory that the moon

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was the result of a
collision between earth

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and a smaller celestial body called Theias

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some four and a half billion years ago.

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Japan's second probe was Selene,

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better known in Japan as Kaguya.

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It continued extensive
observations of the lunar crust

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and also carried the first
high-definition cameras

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into lunar orbit,

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giving us a clearer picture
of the rugged surface.

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Another proof of capability,
this time by India.

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It also carried a NASA mineralogy mapper

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and an impact probe.

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It played a key role in
the confirmation of water

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hidden in the southern lunar pole.

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Eight months later, NASA launched the

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or LRO.

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It has spent the last few
years mapping and scanning

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the lunar world with sophisticated sensors

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and continues to return a wealth of data.

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- [Craig] The Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter is,

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as it's namesake says, a
reconnaissance mission to the moon.

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Our job is to take a
suite of very powerful

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scientific instruments and make
an atlas of the entire moon.

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In some places in very great detail.

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Topography, mountain heights,
mineralogy, temperatures,

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abundances of resources,
including potentially

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the intriguing possibility
that there's water at the moon.

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We put all of this
together and do a data set

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by flying low over the moon for a year.

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And this is the data that the people,

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designing the human systems,

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designing the systems, picking the sites,

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need to take us back to the moon.

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- [Voiceover] This robotic
mission commenced operations

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in June 2009.

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It was hoped the suite of sensors

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would fulfill several scientific goals,

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not only for the moon, but as a framework

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for understanding planetary processes

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throughout the solar system.

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- [Cathy] The LRO instrument suite

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is comprised of six instruments

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and one technology demonstrator.

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And they are geared towards providing us

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a variety of data sets, ranging from

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a thermal map of the
moon, global topography,

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and most importantly,
looking for resources

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like water ice on the moon.

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The entire suite should provide more

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of an atlas as opposed to a map.

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So that we know where to go on the moon,

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where to have the safe landing sites,

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and where to put things
like lunar outposts

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in the hopes of having human exploration

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in the near future.

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(exciting orchestral music)

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(mellow celestial music)

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- [Voiceover] The data
being returned from LRO

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and the other probes,

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draws a clear image of the
evolution of the lunar surface

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and why it is composed of
exactly the same elements

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as the earth.

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After coalescing from the
Earth-Theias collision,

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the proto-moon cooled,

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then suffered several major
collisions from orbital debris.

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Which created many of the
largest surface characteristics,

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including the marias.

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Cratering continued
relentlessly over the millenia

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drawing the familiar lunar vista.

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(explosions)

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- [Lynn] My name is Lynn Carter,

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I'm a research space scientist

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and I work the planetary geodynamics group

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here at Goddard.

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I study the geology of planetary surfaces,

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the earth, moon, Mars, Venus.

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There's a lot of things you
can learn about the earth

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by studying other planets.

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For example, on the earth we have a lot of

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erosive processes, you know, it rains,

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it washes parts of the surface away.

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We have plate tectonics,
which recycles the crust.

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But on other planets,

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those processes don't necessarily occur.

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So for example, when we look at the moon,

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we're seeing a surface that's much older.

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We can use impact cratering on the moon

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to sort of understand how
many impacts happened,

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the size of the objects
that were hitting each other

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in the early solar system.

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One of my favorite things is
to use radar remote sensing.

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For example, on Mars, we
can use radars to sound

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all the way to the bottom
of Mars' polar caps

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and see all this layering
within the polar caps.

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And on the moon, we're using
it to study impact cratering.

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Sometimes, when an impact crater's formed

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a huge sheet of melt is thrown out.

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This melted rock flows across the surface,

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but then over time, it's covered over

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by stuff from other impacts,

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but with the radar, it just
blows right through all of that

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and you can see this beautiful image

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of the melt flow coming out of the crater.

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- [Voiceover] Launched with LRO was LCROSS

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or Lunar Crater Observation
and Sensing Satellite.

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It deployed sometime later than LRO

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and had a finite mission.

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LCROSS and the rocket
stage that delivered it

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were deliberately crashed into
the craters of the south pole

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whilst LRO orbited above
and observed the impacts.

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The debrisent gases thrown
up from the lunar surface

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were closely studied by LCROSS

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as it too descended to the surface.

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The missions found evidence
that the lunar soil

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within these shadowy craters
is rich in useful materials.

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The moon is chemically
active and has a water cycle.

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Scientists also confirm
the water was in the form

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of mostly pure ice crystals,

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which have not seen sunlight
for billions of years.

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LRO has continued to
operate in polar orbit,

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making observations of the south pole,

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and with repeated
flyovers, it has drawn up a

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detailed map of neutron
densities in the region.

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Revealing where hydrogen, and thus water,

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can be found within the lunar soil.

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The importance of this discovery
cannot be overestimated.

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Having this resource in situ

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means independence from
the cost and effort

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of bringing water from Earth to the moon.

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It can be used for creating rocket fuel,

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oxygen to breathe, water to consume

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and irrigate crops, and
used in other processes

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to manufacture building
materials from the lunar soil.

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Launched in 2007, NASA's
five THEMIS spacecraft,

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have now successfully completed
their two year mission

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to determine the cause of
geomagnetic sub-storms.

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Because they are continuing
to work perfectly,

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NASA redirected the
outermost two spacecraft

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to the moon.

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This new mission was called Artemis,

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and they studied the
magnetospheric environment

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near the moon.

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They also observed the effects
of surface electric fields

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and ions from the solar
winds on the lunar surface,

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and determined the internal
structure of the moon

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from variations in it's magnetic field.

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- [Bill] Well, in a
nutshell, what we're finding

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is that the polar craters are very unusual

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electrical environments.

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Well, the solar wind is
actually a relatively tenuous

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gas that's emitted from the sun,

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but it's not a neutral gas,
like the gas in this room.

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It's actually a gas that's
really, for the most part,

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free ions and free electrons.

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So as you pass by, for
example, a polar crater,

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the electrons will actually fill into

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the crater ahead of the ions.

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Now, as it turns out, as it does that

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you create an electric field,

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it's called an ambi-polar electric field,

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and that electric field
then drives in the ions.

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- [Voiceover] These
hidden troves of water ice

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and other volatiles in the polar craters,

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may be protected by a
dangerous electric charge

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of hundreds of volts.

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(exciting orchestral music)

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- [Voiceover] Three, two, one, zero.

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And lift off of the Delta II with GRAIL.

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Journey to the center of the moon.

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- [Voiceover] GRAIL
consisted of two probes

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called Ebb and Flow.

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Linked together in a single flight path,

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they studied the gravitational
field of the moon,

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generating maps like this
crustal thickness atlas.

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It reveals much about
the interior of the moon,

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and even has some surprises.

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- [Thomas] Two years
ago, we reported evidence

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that the moon is shrinking.

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Now we've found evidence
that the moon is actually

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being pulled apart, forming
features called graben.

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So the shrinking moon, it turns out,

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00:13:10,479 --> 00:13:13,239
is not shrinking everywhere.

258
00:13:13,239 --> 00:13:18,200
Some places the moon is actually
expanding, by a little bit.

259
00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,400
So finding these young
graben was a real surprise

260
00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,560
because we thought, "Well,
all these lobate scarps

261
00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:26,479
are telling us the moon is shrinking,

262
00:13:26,479 --> 00:13:30,000
so what are these little small graben,

263
00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,839
that are telling us the
moon is pulling apart,

264
00:13:32,839 --> 00:13:34,479
doing in this picture?

265
00:13:34,479 --> 00:13:36,439
How does this all fit together?

266
00:13:36,439 --> 00:13:39,560
All that's related to
how the moon has evolved.

267
00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:41,560
How the moon has lost heat

268
00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,680
over its four and a half
billion year history.

269
00:13:44,680 --> 00:13:46,959
Most of the terrestrial
planets, when they formed,

270
00:13:46,959 --> 00:13:49,560
were very hot, and they
got so hot that they

271
00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:52,119
actually completely melted.

272
00:13:52,119 --> 00:13:55,079
When that happens, they
will be in a general state

273
00:13:55,079 --> 00:13:58,360
of contraction because they're
still hot on the inside

274
00:13:58,360 --> 00:13:59,319
and cooling down.

275
00:13:59,319 --> 00:14:01,319
And as they cool they want to shrink.

276
00:14:01,319 --> 00:14:03,720
Only the outer part of the moon melted,

277
00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,360
forming what is called a magma ocean,

278
00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,079
and in that model, the
balance of stresses,

279
00:14:09,079 --> 00:14:11,519
or forces that are acting on the moon

280
00:14:11,519 --> 00:14:15,920
would allow us to form both
these small lobate scarps,

281
00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,680
that show contraction, as well as

282
00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:22,879
these small graben that show
the moon being pulled apart.

283
00:14:22,879 --> 00:14:26,239
One of the really, really
exciting returns of the

284
00:14:26,239 --> 00:14:28,159
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission,

285
00:14:28,159 --> 00:14:31,400
is that we've seen this
now growing evidence

286
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,920
of very young geologic
activity on the moon.

287
00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:36,360
- [Voiceover] The moon's
crust is much thinner

288
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,639
on the near side, 68
kilometers thick on average,

289
00:14:39,639 --> 00:14:43,239
and varies from less than a
kilometer on the Mare Crisium,

290
00:14:43,239 --> 00:14:46,680
to 107 kilometers thick
just north of the crater

291
00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:50,079
Coriolis on the lunar far side.

292
00:14:50,079 --> 00:14:52,839
The moon's mantle is
only partially molten,

293
00:14:52,839 --> 00:14:55,639
and the moon's center of
mass is offset by about

294
00:14:55,639 --> 00:14:59,039
two kilometers in the
direction toward the earth.

295
00:14:59,039 --> 00:15:00,720
This, and other data quickly changed

296
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,159
our understanding of the moon.

297
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,519
To gather more evidence on the unusual

298
00:15:06,519 --> 00:15:08,720
electrical properties
on the lunar surface,

299
00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,039
and how it effects lunar
dust, NASA sent LADEE,

300
00:15:12,039 --> 00:15:14,959
the Lunar Atmosphere and
Dust Environment Explorer

301
00:15:14,959 --> 00:15:16,439
to investigate.

302
00:15:16,439 --> 00:15:18,439
- [Rick] At higher
altitudes we saw very few

303
00:15:18,439 --> 00:15:21,000
dust particle impacts,
but the lower we went,

304
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:22,720
with LADEE, the more we saw,

305
00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:24,759
and it's a very, very steep rise.

306
00:15:24,759 --> 00:15:26,920
So if you're operating with spacecraft,

307
00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,119
very close to the surface of the moon,

308
00:15:29,119 --> 00:15:31,039
as you would with a robotic lander,

309
00:15:31,039 --> 00:15:33,560
or a human lander,

310
00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,639
you might need to consider the fact that

311
00:15:35,639 --> 00:15:39,079
you've got more dust there
in the way as you come in.

312
00:15:39,079 --> 00:15:41,519
- [Voiceover] This probe
flew progressively lower,

313
00:15:41,519 --> 00:15:44,920
and finally impacted on the surface.

314
00:15:46,079 --> 00:15:50,200
- [Voiceover] Ignition.
Problem. Main stage.

315
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:53,319
- [Voiceover] This is Morpheus,

316
00:15:53,319 --> 00:15:56,000
a robotic, self-guided lander.

317
00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,560
You tell it where to land,
and it will do the rest.

318
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:03,920
Independently seeking the safest course,

319
00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,680
and avoiding any rocky dangers.

320
00:16:09,519 --> 00:16:12,079
The ESA were also developing
an autonomous lander

321
00:16:12,079 --> 00:16:15,119
to perform the same function.

322
00:16:17,319 --> 00:16:20,200
- [Bruno] The lunar lander is a small but

323
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,560
very challenging mission.

324
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:24,839
The most important part
of it is of course,

325
00:16:24,839 --> 00:16:27,239
landing on the south pole of the moon.

326
00:16:27,239 --> 00:16:30,079
Which requires innovative solution

327
00:16:30,079 --> 00:16:35,079
concerning landing, hazard
avoidance, navigation,

328
00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:40,079
and in fact, this is the
mission which will bring about

329
00:16:40,079 --> 00:16:44,360
the new generation of
navigation and guidance

330
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,759
sensor, algorithm, and software.

331
00:16:48,119 --> 00:16:51,560
- [Voiceover] But a fiscal
year is a long time in space.

332
00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:55,000
NASA now have little interest
in returning men to the moon,

333
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,439
they are firmly focused
on a Martian landscape.

334
00:16:58,439 --> 00:17:00,519
The Europeans have had budget cuts.

335
00:17:00,519 --> 00:17:04,600
The ESA lander now shelved
for the time being.

336
00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:07,000
This leaves the door wide open for Russia

337
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,319
and the younger players,
China, India, and Japan.

338
00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:12,319
Plus several private companies,

339
00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:14,200
now developing the same technology

340
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:18,239
to put first robots,
then humans, on the moon.

341
00:17:18,759 --> 00:17:21,639
All this time, the Chinese
National Space Administration,

342
00:17:21,639 --> 00:17:25,800
or CNSA, had launched two orbiter
reconnaissance satellites,

343
00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,239
Chang'e-1 and 2.

344
00:17:28,439 --> 00:17:32,319
Then Chang'e-3 deposited a
lunar rover on the surface.

345
00:17:32,319 --> 00:17:36,879
Their latest, Chang'e-5, made
a return trip around the moon.

346
00:17:36,879 --> 00:17:40,639
They are firmly set on a
permanent manned lunar base.

347
00:17:40,639 --> 00:17:43,439
- [Cathy] I think the
reason this has resonated

348
00:17:43,439 --> 00:17:46,079
with so many people,
and all over the world,

349
00:17:46,079 --> 00:17:47,479
it's not just our country

350
00:17:47,479 --> 00:17:51,680
is because everyone can look
up in the sky and see the moon.

351
00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,560
And I think people, a lot of
people remember the Apollo

352
00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,159
landings, the first man on the moon,

353
00:17:58,159 --> 00:18:00,439
and you can also look up at the sky

354
00:18:00,439 --> 00:18:01,959
and I believe that people,

355
00:18:01,959 --> 00:18:04,239
it's very tangible to them that way.

356
00:18:04,239 --> 00:18:06,039
The moon, they can relate,

357
00:18:06,039 --> 00:18:08,800
so they want to be a part of it.

358
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,079
That's my theory on why
people have just so connected.

359
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:18,800
(exciting orchestral music)

360
00:18:26,959 --> 00:18:30,280
- [Voiceover] The moon is,
indeed, a tantalizing prize.

361
00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,560
The Chinese have their
lander and rover there now.

362
00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,560
Japan and India will be next.

363
00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,079
South Korea has an interest,

364
00:18:37,079 --> 00:18:39,920
along with Russia, Canada, France, Italy,

365
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,600
and the United Kingdom.

366
00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:44,400
Private enterprise has had the prod

367
00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,800
with the Google Lunar XPRIZE,

368
00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,239
The 30 million dollar prize pales beside

369
00:18:49,239 --> 00:18:51,759
the glory of being the
first private company

370
00:18:51,759 --> 00:18:53,600
to land a robot on the moon,

371
00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,039
and to explore at least 500 meters,

372
00:18:56,039 --> 00:18:59,920
and transmit high-definition
images back to Earth.

373
00:19:01,039 --> 00:19:03,560
So far there are four hot contenders.

374
00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:05,680
The Barcelona Moon Team,

375
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,239
a consortium of companies headed by

376
00:19:07,239 --> 00:19:09,000
Galactic Suite Design.

377
00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,239
Their interests lie in space
technology and industry,

378
00:19:12,239 --> 00:19:15,000
with a strong focus on tourism.

379
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,920
Penn State Lunar Lion Team.

380
00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:20,000
Faculty and students are
developing a spacecraft

381
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,239
to land on the moon, then
lift off again and relocate

382
00:19:23,239 --> 00:19:26,159
to fulfill the prize requirements.

383
00:19:26,639 --> 00:19:28,560
Moon Express is a group of space and

384
00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:30,400
Silicone Valley entrepreneurs,

385
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,039
looking to mine the moon
for it's valuable resources,

386
00:19:33,039 --> 00:19:38,039
like platinum, titanium, and
the rare isotope Helium-3.

387
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,439
Finally, Astrobotic Technology.

388
00:19:41,439 --> 00:19:43,360
A Pennsylvania based company

389
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:44,800
with support from other companies

390
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,400
including ALCOA and Caterpillar.

391
00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,119
They have already reserved a launch

392
00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,759
on a SpaceX Falcon-9 launch vehicle.

393
00:19:54,639 --> 00:19:57,039
Getting to the moon is one thing,

394
00:19:57,039 --> 00:19:59,239
staying there is another.

395
00:19:59,239 --> 00:20:03,560
- It was one thing to go for
a handful of days in Apollo,

396
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:05,720
and go when you knew the sun was quiet,

397
00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:07,680
or you hoped the sun stayed quiet.

398
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:09,319
And you took the risk,

399
00:20:09,319 --> 00:20:11,720
you calculated the risk
of cancer and such,

400
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:13,800
and you made a short mission.

401
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:14,759
If you're going to live there longer

402
00:20:14,759 --> 00:20:16,920
you need to understand
it well enough to go,

403
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:19,479
"Here's what I need to
do to protect myself."

404
00:20:19,479 --> 00:20:22,280
- One of the things that we're looking for

405
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,759
in the LRO mission is

406
00:20:24,759 --> 00:20:26,879
how the high-radiation environment

407
00:20:26,879 --> 00:20:29,920
effects our ability to explore.

408
00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:33,639
So if we bring cameras
or communication devices,

409
00:20:33,639 --> 00:20:36,360
you know, how will they be impacted by

410
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:37,639
the cosmic radiation.

411
00:20:37,639 --> 00:20:41,479
We need protect our equipment
as well as ourselves.

412
00:20:41,479 --> 00:20:43,839
- [Voiceover] We want to be
able to go back to the moon

413
00:20:43,839 --> 00:20:46,239
so that we can live there
for long periods and

414
00:20:46,239 --> 00:20:47,680
work on the moon.

415
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,800
So we need a mission that can help us find

416
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,400
the best places to go and determine

417
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,839
how to go back there safely.

418
00:20:54,839 --> 00:20:57,839
- [Voiceover] Access to
solar power, continuously,

419
00:20:57,839 --> 00:21:00,280
that may be the first
and most important reason

420
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,039
over the near term.

421
00:21:02,039 --> 00:21:05,560
And then the possibility
of resources being there.

422
00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:09,039
Those may take much longer
time before we're able to

423
00:21:09,039 --> 00:21:10,720
really exploit those,

424
00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,079
but the solar power is something
we can exploit right away.

425
00:21:14,079 --> 00:21:16,680
- [Cathy] Whether it's
water ice to have water,

426
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:20,839
or potential minerals that
we could use as raw materials

427
00:21:20,839 --> 00:21:23,879
to make into things that we would need.

428
00:21:24,519 --> 00:21:26,039
- [Voiceover] All the
major players have designed

429
00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:28,959
and planned many varieties of lunar bases.

430
00:21:28,959 --> 00:21:30,959
NASA, ESA, and private contractors

431
00:21:30,959 --> 00:21:33,319
have concepts on the drawing board.

432
00:21:33,319 --> 00:21:35,600
As more information comes
in from the lunar satellites

433
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,560
on the environment, resources,

434
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,759
and dangers of cosmic radiation,

435
00:21:39,759 --> 00:21:42,039
these plans evolve.

436
00:21:46,439 --> 00:21:50,800
One of the latest is to
use 3D printing technology.

437
00:21:51,239 --> 00:21:56,239
(upbeat electronic music)

438
00:21:58,519 --> 00:22:00,680
With all the challenges and difficulties,

439
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,280
many have made firm commitments

440
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,720
to establishing bases
within 10 to 15 years.

441
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:07,800
Some for scientific research,

442
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:11,439
others for commercialization and tourism.

443
00:22:16,479 --> 00:22:19,680
Some would choose not to send
test pilots and scientists,

444
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,400
but stewardesses and sommelier.

445
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,639
- [Craig] When we look
back on what we did in LRO

446
00:22:24,639 --> 00:22:26,680
and we look at what followed,

447
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,319
I think we'll see a profound impact.

448
00:22:28,319 --> 00:22:32,360
We'll see us as really
being the small first step

449
00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:35,920
where we have human beings
permanently off this planet.

450
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:37,400
Beginning to move out
into the solar system,

451
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:38,479
starting with the moon.

452
00:22:38,479 --> 00:22:41,079
If that pans out, I think
we'll be a small piece

453
00:22:41,079 --> 00:22:44,159
of a profound development
that when history looks back

454
00:22:44,159 --> 00:22:45,560
they'll say, "This time
we went back to the moon,

455
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:50,560
this time we stayed, and
then we moved on from there."

456
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,119
- [Voiceover] As we
continue to study the moon

457
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:57,079
our understanding of it improves,

458
00:22:57,079 --> 00:22:59,119
giving us new insights, not only into

459
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:01,400
how it has evolved over time,

460
00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,360
but also how other rocky
planets in our solar system

461
00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:07,600
have come to look the way they do.

462
00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,759
With new missions, new
instruments, and new technologies

463
00:23:13,759 --> 00:23:16,560
we will continue to improve
our knowledge of the moon

464
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:21,560
and better understand the
history of our solar system.

465
00:23:22,759 --> 00:23:27,759
(exciting orchestral music)