text: why haven't we returned to the moon?   the answer is that the space program, and the race for the moon, began as a political test of wills between the soviet union and the united states and had nothing to do with science.  both sides saw the moon as a goal not for the scientific purposes of the mission (ie:how the moon was formed, collecting moon rocks, etc...) but to showcase their technology and 'get the better' of each on the world stage.  it had everything to do with politics and after the usa beat the soviets there, there was no reason to go back.    the enormous costs of the mission were justified in the eyes of the superpowers if they could be perceived as being superior to the other, but once the race was won the costs to sustain the missions for purely scientific purposes proved too much to bear and as a result apollo xvii was the last mission back in 1972.  we have the technology to return, but not the political will.