Future Moon Exploration: How Humans Will Visit Luna (Infographic)

In every decade since the Apollo moon landing program ended, conceptual missions for returning to the moon have been proposed. Most of these involve tourism, lunar mining or the establishment of a lunar base. As of 2014, no single mission has a firm launch date, but several have been imagined:

SPACE ADVENTURES

Name: Deep Space Expedition Alpha (DSE-Alpha)
Mission: Lunar flyby for two paid tourists
Duration: Nine days
Crew: Two
Spacecraft: Russian Soyuz docked to habitation module
Target date: 2017

NASA

Name: Exploration Mission 2
Mission: Lunar orbit test of NASA spacecraft
Duration: 14 days
Crew: Two
Spacecraft: Orion Crew Module
Target date: 2021

GOLDEN SPIKE

Name: Golden Spike
Mission: Manned lunar landing for two paid tourists
Duration: TBD
Crew: Two
Spacecraft: Lander/Crew Module
Target date: 2020

How Golden Spike's Moon Landing Plan Works (Infographic)

SHACKLETON ENERGY CO.

Name: TBD
Mission: Human-tended robotic mining at lunar south pole
Duration: TBD
Crew: Six to eight
Spacecraft: TBD
Target date: 2020

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY

Name: Aurora Exploration Programme
Mission: Manned lunar landing
Duration: TBD
Crew: TBD
Spacecraft: TBD
Target date: 2024

Moon Base Visions: How to Build a Lunar Colony (Photos)

RUSSIAN LUNAR EXPLORATION PROGRAM

Name: TBD

Mission: Manned lunar landing
Duration: TBD
Crew: TBD
Spacecraft: TBD, launched on Angara rocket
Target date: 2030

CHINESE LUNAR EXPLORATION PROGRAM

Name: CLEP
Mission: Manned lunar landing
Duration: TBD
Crew: TBD
Spacecraft: TBD
Target date: TBD

OPENLUNA

Name: OpenLuna
Mission: Return humans to moon by private enterprise
Duration: Two-week surface stay
Crew: One
Spacecraft: "Tranquility" lander
Target date: TBD

NASA's Historic Apollo 11 Moon Landing in Pictures

NASA's Historic Apollo 11 Moon Landing in Pictures

NASA's 17 Apollo Moon Missions in Pictures

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