Why didn't humanity return to the Moon for over half a century despite 1970s technology?

NASA's Artemis II launched its Orion spacecraft on April 2, 2026 JST and completed a lunar flyby.

The last crewed Moon landing before Artemis II was Apollo 17 in 1972; 12 astronauts walked on the Moon from 1969–1972.

A researcher says the half-century gap was not due to engineering but to politics, funding, and lack of sustained international support.

Artemis differs by using commercial partners like SpaceX and the Artemis Accords to spread risk and broaden political backing.