KQED's Forum Why We’re Headed Back to the Moon For the First Time in Half a Century
Apr 3, 2026
Loren Grush, Bloomberg space reporter and author, and Anthony Colaprete, acting science director at NASA Ames and Artemis II team member, break down the Artemis II flyby. They discuss Orion and SLS systems, lunar water ice and in‑situ resources, communications upgrades, lander development, and why a stepwise return to the Moon matters for building a sustained base and preparing for Mars.
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Scientist Flew In Blind For Launch Day
- Anthony Colaprete missed the launch live because he was on a plane with broken Wi-Fi and learned it had launched only after landing when his phone lit up.
- He flew in the day of launch to be on console the next day despite tight duties.
Lunar Ice Could Become Local Rocket Fuel
- A key motivator for returning is the discovery of water ice in lunar poles, which could be processed into rocket propellant (hydrogen and oxygen).
- Loren Grush emphasized in-situ resource use could hugely reduce costs by producing fuel and supplies on-site.
Moon Resources Change Exploration Architecture
- Discoveries since the late 1990s (e.g., LCROSS) rewrote the moon as not bone-dry and revealed polar water ice useful for in-situ resource utilization.
- Tony Colaprete stressed those resources could serve shielding, drinking water, plant growth and technologies transferable to Mars missions.
