The popular framing of the question — why has no human walked on the Moon since 1972? — usually proceeds as though there is some technical answer to be found.
For the first forty years of human spaceflight, getting into space required being a professional astronaut or cosmonaut.
When Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore packed for their trip to the International Space Station in early June 2024, they packed for approximately a week.
The record sits at the top of every list of human spaceflight endurance achievements, has been there since 1995, and is currently held by a man who has been dead for three years.
