This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Lunar exploration is undergoing a renaissance. Dozens of missions, organized by multiple space agencies – and increasingly by commercial companies – are set to visit the moon by the end of this decade. Most of these will involve small robotic spacecraft, but NASA's ambitious Artemis program, aims to return humans to the lunar surface by the middle of the decade.
