so the last man to walk on the moon (in1972)has sadly passed away,so who do you think will be next?the Chinese?or perhaps a private company,will they use it as a step towards Mars or bypass the moon and try for a straight run for the red planet?
In the coming years, I think we will see NASA geared more and more towards building first a habitat, then an interplanetary spaceship (which will, once operational, be taken out for tours of the inner solar system, including to Mars orbit and its satellites) in orbit around the Moon (with commercial re-supply). It is possible that from that development, NASA will at some point seek commercial offers for a reusable lunar lander to do lunar "sorties" departing from the lunar orbital habitat. I think that within the next 5 years, the Chinese might well make it one of their medium-term goals to send a wo/man to the surface of the Moon, if and when the Chang'E series of probes is successful in returning samples from the surface of the Moon. Once their Long March 9 rocket comes online around 2030, all the necessary pieces will be in place, so I would not expect things to take long after that. Which one of the two will be quicker? Difficult to say! If the NASA switch is done quickly and fully backed by the US Congress, they might yet be the first to go back. I don't think the Chinese care too much - they will just do what they gonna do anyway, with no racing whatsover.
