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Last astronaut to walk on the moon explained why no one has been back in 50 years

Home> News> World News

Published 11:31 4 Apr 2026 GMT+1

Last astronaut to walk on the moon explained why no one has been back in 50 years

And it's not because of technological restrictions

Danni King

Danni King

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Even though we've seen huge advancements in technology over the years, it's been over five decades since a human last walked on the moon.

Eugene Cernan, NASA's former Apollo 17 commander, was the last person to walk on the moon in 1972 and surprisingly, no one has followed in his footsteps since.

The latest development in space travel has been the launch of the Artemis II mission, which has sent the first crewed mission around the moon ahead of Artemis III, a mission to hopefully put humans back on the moon.

It may seem logical that the reason why astronauts have not ventured to the moon since 1972 is down to technological restrictions or lack of resources, but a former NASA administrator has shut down these claims.

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Humans haven't been on the moon for decades (Getty Stock Photo)
Humans haven't been on the moon for decades (Getty Stock Photo)

Jim Bridenstine, who served as the administrator of NASA for just under three years, addressed the issue in 2018 and revealed it's all down to politics.

"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," Jim told reporters in 2018,

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

However, it seems steps are being taken in the right direction following the launch of Artemis II.

Four astronauts - Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Kock and Jeremy Hansen - headed into space on Wednesday (1 April) aboard the Orion spacecraft, where they are expected to spend 10 days in total.

During the mission, they hope to capture a view of the Moon's dark side which is yet to be seen on camera, as well as test technologies needed for voyages to Mars and long-term space exploration.

The spacecraft was recorded as being closer to the moon than Earth on Saturday (4 April) with the crew hoping to reach their destination by Monday (6 April), according to NASA.

Artemis II launched on 1 April (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Artemis II launched on 1 April (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Hansen, the only Canadian in the crew, explained how the mission was going so far, describing the moment they came back towards Earth for an injection manoeuvre as feeling like the aircraft was "falling out of the sky back to Earth"

"On our first day in space, we saw some extraordinary things. The Earth up close. By the time we had a bit of a nap and got up, the Earth was just so far away again.

"Then to come in for that transit or injection, we came all the way back to Earth again," he said during a news conference from space.

"We were out there at 60,000km, we came back to within 200km of the planet, and it just felt like we were falling out of the sky back to Earth."

Featured Image Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Topics: Space, World News, NASA

Danni King
Danni King

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