A vacation on the Moon? Scientists say its likely in about 50 years

If you are young enough, you could be chilling on Moon and grilling barbeques with your grandchildren 50 years from now. That’s the picture of lunar tourism that scientists from spacefaring nations drew at a recent session at the World Conference of Science Journalists at Lausanne, Switzerland.

“In 50 years, there will be more tourists on Moon, which would be just like a resort, with a backyard for grilling meat or whatever else,” said Anatoli Petrukovich, director, Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences.

Wu Ji, former director general, National Space Science Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences agreed that holidays to Moon could take off in a big way in half a century. “I don’t think governments will spend money on permanent manned mission because it’s useless for political reasons. For science, you go, do something and come back,” he said.


“People will go there, spend holidays and come back. But the staff of the hotel will work there. So there will be permanent human habitability on the moon in 50 years,” he said. “Robotic staff?,” Petrukovich intervened. “No, not necessarily,” Wu Ji responded.

The session ‘Moon and beyond: Where will we be in 50 years in space exploration?’ had experts from the US, Europe, Russia and China discussing their future plans- from sending a woman astronaut to Moon to robotic explorations. Nasa and ESA also stressed on their partnerships with commercial ventures and the academia. The two agencies are working on Gateway, a space station to orbit Moon. It is likely to begin operations by 2024 when Nasa sends humans to Moon again.

Many participants felt what started as a space race will soon be a space collaboration. “It’s not a race. But you see, political figures are like kids in kindergarten. Either nobody wants it, or everybody wants it. So, it is a kind of a race, but in this race, everybody is helping the neighbour.”

So, what language would the tourists speak on the moon? “What I am really looking forward to is a chip I can put in my ear and you speak Chinese and I hear it in English, I speak English and you have the same chip and you hear Chinese,” said Thomas H Zurbuchen, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Nasa. “Cultural issues may remain, but language will not be a problem.”