The Observer view on the Artemis deep space project: $93bn? Worth every cent | Observer editorial

The first vehicle that is capable of ferrying humans to the moon will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday. A 1.3m mile test mission called Artemis 1 will be carried out by the giant Space Launch System rocket. The United States will be able to demonstrate that it is ready to put humans on the moon if the flight goes well.

The achievement will cost something. The Artemis programme will take humans to the moon before they are sent to Mars. At a time when private space companies are developing giant rockets that could slash deep-space mission costs, there are doubts as to whether it is worth it. Private enterprise should be responsible for ferrying people to the moon and Mars.

Major questions are being raised about the justification of sending people into space. Unlike humans, robots don't need food, air or toilet facilities. Scientists say to let automated craft do the dirty work.

China and Russia are both vying to establish themselves as major space powers and have revealed plans to build their own space stations. The US cannot allow such enterprises to proceed without committing to flagship projects that will involve crewed missions.

Lunar travel – humanity’s first venture into deep space – transformed our understanding of our place in the universe

Human beings are sent above the comforting blanket of Earth's atmosphere and into further reaches of the solar system. It can be argued that lunar travel changed our view of the universe.

The first mission that flew astronauts to the moon was in December of 1968. For the first time, our planet was shown as an entire world, a single disc in the dark that gave no indication that help from elsewhere could ever save us.

In July 1969 Neil Armstrong was struck by the view of the Earth above his Apollo 11 Eagle landers craft. I put up my thumb and closed my eyes. Is it possible that the first man on the moon felt larger than life? He later said no. I felt tiny.

The impact of the Apollo astronauts on our world was huge. The birth of the environment movement could be traced back to their observations and experiences. There is still something to be gained from putting men and women into space, even though lunar travel has provided value for money. The placing of human beings on the surface of another world should be seen as beneficial to our species, even though it is more difficult to work out the exact price tag.