From outdated tech to funding hurdles, here’s why astronauts haven’t landed on the moon in over five decades

While I was leading a tour of the National Air and Space Museum in January 2026, a visitor posed this insightful question: “Why has it taken so long to return to the Moon?” After all, NASA had the know-how and technology to send humans to the lunar surface more than 50 years ago as part of the Apollo program.

Many things have changed since the 1960s. At 13:24:59 Central Standard Time on December 19 1972, the Apollo 17 command module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, about 350 nautical miles south-east of Samoa, concluding the last mission to the Moon.

Astrophiles are eagerly awaiting the launch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Artemis II on Wednesday, which is set to be the most powerful rocket launch on record and will send human beings back toward the moon for the first time in over 50 years.

Audiences, especially modern audiences, are keen to find inaccuracies in films and TV shows. Sometimes, not always, those inaccuracies are intentional.

Ret. NASA astronaut and the first woman to pilot the space shuttle Eileen Collins discusses the Artemis II mission to the moon on ‘Fox Report.’

The historic Arte m is II mission is on the second day of its 10-day trip to the moon and traveling thousands of miles through space. As of 9 a.m. ET on Friday, April 3, the Artemis II crew is almost 84,