The first moon landing captivated the world. Can a new return visit do the same? | Paul Owen

The first lunar mission since 1972 is about to lift off. It may not be as groundbreaking as the Apollo flights, but don’t write off the fascination the moon still exerts On 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong swung open the hatch of his spacecraft and clambered down a short ladder towards the surface of the moon. The Apollo 11 moon mission came only 66 years after Orville Wright made the first successful flight in an aeroplane. Armstrong captured a sense of that progression in the indelible first words he spoke on the lunar surface: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” That was nearly 57 years ago. No human has visited the moon since the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972. As early as this week, that may change – sort of. Nasa is planning to send four astronauts on a 10-day loop around our lunar neighbour, on a mission called Artemis II. The Artemis II crew won’t land – that will fall to Artemis IV, a mission still probably several years away. Will it be possible for Nasa to recapture some of the lunar fever of the 1960s with these new missions? Back then hundreds of millions around the world watched Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land at Tranquility Base, with Mike Collins orbi