Industry
Politics and budgets, not technology, drove 50-year gap in crewed moon exploration - analysis
Humans had the technology to reach the moon in the early 1970s but failed to resume crewed lunar exploration for more than 50 years because of politics, budgets and international cooperation structures, an analysis said. Dominic Vichinanza of Anglia Ruskin University said the Apollo programme lacked a sustainable long-term plan. NASA budgets fell after peaking in 1966 and policy shifted to low-Earth orbit. Repeated cancellations reflected funding limits and changing political cycles, he said.
