NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon within a few years

The US space agency is considering sending humans to the moon within a few years. This is apparent from an internal memo that tech site The Verge has obtained. Until now, the rocket, which is intended to conduct tests for a Mars mission, would leave unmanned.

The launch of the EM-1 is currently scheduled for September 30, 2018, but if the manned mission goes ahead, it may be later, The Verge writes based on the memo. It is not yet certain whether the manned mission will continue. NASA would internally investigate whether a manned mission is still possible.

The rocket must enter orbit around the moon, and then return to Earth after three weeks via parachutes. The Space Launch System into which the EM-1 mission falls is intended to see if NASA can bring humans to Mars.

To make the mission possible, EM-1 will need systems to keep the astronauts alive, something NASA had only thought to consider with EM-2, which is on the roll for 2021. mission could potentially accelerate the development of the Space Launch System. The last manned mission to the moon was in 1972.