Come, quando e perché torniamo sulla Luna [Adrian Fartade]

Adrian Fartade, an astronomy communicator and YouTuber, explores the current state of space exploration and how it differs from the Space Race era. He explains the historical context: the 1960s Moon missions were driven by Cold War competition and geopolitical posturing, not sustainable exploration goals. The technological capability to reach the Moon existed, but only through extraordinary spending (approximately 4% of the U.S. budget), which was unsustainable long-term. Since then, the real progress has been developing the technologies needed to operate sustainably in space—including solar panels, life support systems, GPS, and satellite infrastructure—rather than engaging in one-off missions.

Regarding private billionaires entering space, Fartade notes this is historically recurring behavior. He draws parallels to late 19th-century explorers and argues that current billionaires are motivated by romantic notions of being remembered as explorers, wrapped in positivist ideology. However, he expresses serious concerns about capitalism's profit-driven approach to exploration. When profit becomes the primary motivator, the approach differs fundamentally from pure exploration; companies look for extractable resources rather than making discoveries. He uses a dating analogy: searching for profit prevents noticing unexpected opportunities, just as desperately seeking a romantic partner prevents natural connections from forming.

Fartade emphasizes that Europe's role should not be catching up to American or Chinese capabilities, but rather achieving strategic autonomy. Europe already contributes substantially to space infrastructure—more than half the International Space Station (excluding Russian segments) is Italian-made, and Turin will manufacture the first lunar habitat module for NASA. Rather than competing on launch costs where private companies dominate, Europe should define its own strategic goals. He proposes a European public space station that could attract collaboration from African, Asian, and South American nations entering space for the first time, creating soft power advantages and technology transfer opportunities.

On the common objection that space spending diverts resources from solving Earth's problems, Fartade provides concrete rebuttals. Space budgets are relatively small compared to other expenditures (Italians spent €153 billion on gambling last year versus €2-3 billion for Artemis 2). The return on investment for space technology is significant—over €3.50 returned for every euro invested over a decade. Critically, he argues this is not an either-or situation; Europe wastes €143 billion annually on food waste. The issue isn't technological—tuberculosis has been curable since the 1950s and we know how to eliminate malaria for approximately €30-60 billion—the barrier is political will, not scientific knowledge.

Concerning AI and robotics in space exploration, Fartade clarifies that AI in space isn't about ChatGPT designing rockets, but rather using machine learning for accurate simulations of materials, aerodynamics, and fluid dynamics. Physical AI—predicting the next physical state rather than next word—could enable autonomous robots on Mars to manage infrastructure before human arrival. However, he stresses this is a 20-25 year timeline at minimum.

Fartade expresses deep concern about the geopolitical risks of advanced technology without corresponding wisdom. He references how 20th-century wars occurred despite widespread belief they would end quickly, and warns that creating hyper-optimized economies around conflict (as happened with the Cold War) can become self-sustaining. He fears that advanced weaponized robotics, drones, and AI could enable similar dynamics in future conflicts without people recognizing the danger until too late.

Finally, Fartade reflects on his role as a science communicator after a one-year hiatus from content creation. He emphasizes that beyond dissemination, his value lies in inspiring people toward positive applications of knowledge, giving a sense of wonder about collective human potential, and crucially, combating isolation. He notes that loneliness is monetizable—services like ChatGPT benefit from people having fewer human connections. His goal is creating environments where passionate people discover each other and form communities. He observes growing fatigue with mainstream social media (comparing scrolling to old TV channel-surfing), and believes there's opportunity for passionate niche content that provides genuine value rather than content optimized for the lowest common denominator.