December 1972 - Apollo 17 Astronaut Eugene 'Gene' Cernan was the last human on the Moon (Photo: NASA)

A team of European scientists wants to send people back to the moon, ending the 40-year break from human lunar exploration.

The group not only wants to see a resumption of lunar exploration, but it recommends those efforts be dramatically stepped-up.

In a report to be published in “Planetary and Space Science,” the authors argue sending humans back to the moon, placing new scientific instruments on, and returning additional samples from the surface of the moon, will help us better understand the history of the Solar System, the origin and evolution of the Earth-Moon system, the geological evolution of rocky planets, and the near-Earth cosmic environment throughout Solar System.

The last time a human walked on the moon was during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.

The USSR's Luna 24 unmanned lunar explorer was the last to go and return from the moon in August 1976 (Image: NASA)

The scientists believe a renewed emphasis on exploration of the moon would also provide a number of research opportunities in astronomy, astrobiology, fundamental physics, life sciences, human physiology and medicine.

Over the past decade, there’s been something of a renaissance in lunar exploration. A number of unmanned spacecraft – from the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan, China, India and the U.S. – have orbited the moon, but none have performed a controlled landing on its surface.  The last spacecraft to touch down on the moon and return to Earth was Russia’s Luna 24 robotic mission in August 1976.

However, a portion of the US Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) and India’s Chandrayaan-1 Moon Impact Probe (MIP) were deliberately crashed into the moon’s surface in order to perform experiments required by their missions.

Although some of their objectives can still be achieved robotically,  the European science team says lunar exploration would benefit significantly from renewed human operations on the moon.

Artist Concept of the unmanned Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter currently orbiting and mapping the moon at 50 kilometers from lunar surface. (Image: NASA)

They recommend current and future non-manned lunar exploration missions be developed in the context of future human exploration, similar to what’s outlined in 2007’s Global Exploration road map which recommends an expansion of human presence throughout the Solar System and human exploration missions to the surface of Mars.

Following the framework of a 1992 study by the European Space Agency, the paper’s authors propose their lunar science objectives can logically be divided into three categories:

• Science of the moon (study of the moon itself)
• Science on the moon (studies that use the moon’s surface as a platform for experiments, not related to the moon itself.
• Science from the moon (using the lunar surface as a base to conduct astronomical observations).

Yesterday’s successful launch of SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon reusable spacecraft from Cape Canaveral in Florida, marked what NASA administrator Charles Bolden called “the beginning of a new era in exploration.”

Now that the Dragon is in space, technicians are testing its capability of rendezvousing and docking with the International Space Station, where it is set to deliver experiments, payloads and supplies later this week.

Artist rendering of the Dragon Spacecraft with Solar Panels deployed (Image: SpaceX)

Before that happens, Dragon will perform a flyby of the space station this Thursday.  From a distance of approximately 2.41 kilometers from the ISS, technicians will validate the operation of the spacecraft’s sensors and flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous.

If everything checks out, the Dragon capsule will be cleared to rendezvous and berth with the ISS on Friday, May 25.  The ISS crew will use the space station’s robotic arm to capture Dragon and install it on the bottom side of the Harmony node of the ISS.

Until recently, spaceflight has mostly been a function of major governments.

Modern private spaceflight began in 1980 with the European Space Agency’s creation of Arianespace, which produces, operates and markets the Ariane series of launch vehicles.  Since 1984, Arianespace has conducted more than 240 commercial space launches.

Private involvement of spaceflight can also be traced back to the 1962 U.S. Communications Satellite Act, legislation which provided a pathway for corporations to own and operate their own satellites. However, those satellites were still sent into space by government-owned launch vehicles.

Since retiring its space shuttle program last year, NASA – the US space agency – has partnered with companies to deliver crew and cargo to the ISS.

Artist rendering of Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. (Image: Orbital)

Two private companies, SpaceX, and Orbital Sciences are currently partnered with NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to deliver cargo to the ISS.

Along with the SpaceX Dragon reusable spacecraft, Orbital Sciences is developing a vehicle that will also deliver supplies and other material to the ISS.  Its Cygnus spacecraft is an expendable space capsule and is expected to launch its demonstration mission to the ISS sometime later this year.

A program called Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) has been established and is being run by NASA to attract companies that would develop privately-operated crew vehicles to ferry crew members to and from the ISS and other destinations in low-Earth orbit.

SpaceX, Boeing, Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) are among the companies NASA is considering for this program.  NASA hopes to launch the first CCDev missions that will transport ISS crew members in 2017.