Why was the Moon chosen for the first manned landing in this solar system?

Answer 1

The moon was chosen as the first inner solar system landing for two main reasons. Both reasons were inspired by competition. The United States choose the moon as their destination to beat the Russians in the space race. There was an informal competition to be the first country to place a man on the moon.

#1. It was the only planet close enough for our technology to reach, with moderate safety, at that time. Satellites were far beyond the moon, but oxygen, food, water and fuel were of major concern and were not mastered yet.

#2. The topography of the moon was overall suitable for landing man made spacecraft. The moon has massive craters and also even forms of mountain ranges, like most planets. However, the moon has very fine, soft and smooth landing areas that allow for a greater margin of human error when landing.

Reaching mars would have been completely impossible then and if someone did reach it, they would have little way to slow down from the speed they were traveling. The heat shields barely withstood our own atmosphere, let alone one that we didn't understand at all yet. The radiation in space would also have played a major role on the computer systems and even the astronauts.

Basically, the moon was chosen because it was the only possible way to beat the Russians to a foreign planet.