tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/lunar-exploration-13762/articlesLunar exploration – The Conversation2024-03-06T17:45:13Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243872024-03-06T17:45:13Z2024-03-06T17:45:13ZSpacesuits need a major upgrade for the next phase of exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579865/original/file-20240305-18-mik4ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3822%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-taps-axiom-space-for-first-artemis-moonwalking-spacesuits/">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans have long dreamed of setting foot on the Moon and other planetary bodies such as Mars. Since the 1960s, space travellers have donned suits designed to protect them from the vacuum of space and stepped out into the unknown.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://spacenews.com/polaris-dawn-private-astronaut-mission-slips-to-mid-2024/">the Polaris Dawn mission</a>, which is to include the first spacewalk organised by a private company, has been delayed. This is due to complications with the design and development of a suitable spacesuit. </p>
<p>Moon suits are also one of the key elements of Nasa’s Artemis lunar programme that have yet to be delivered. A report released in November 2023 said that the contractor making the suits is having <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106256#:%7E:text=To%20develop%20Artemis%20space%20suits,report%20examining%20the%20Artemis%20enterprise.">to revisit aspects of the design provided by Nasa</a>, which could introduce delays.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://time.com/5802128/alexei-leonov-spacewalk-obstacles/">the first spacewalk</a>, by the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, took place in 1965. Later, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/">12 Nasa astronauts would walk on the lunar surface</a>, between 1969 and 1972, using technology that would be eclipsed by today’s smartphones. So it’s not unreasonable to ask why it can still be difficult to design and build spacesuits to do the same thing.</p>
<p>Much has changed since the Apollo missions planted flags on the Moon. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/01/20/us-china-india-japan-and-others-are-rushing-back-to-the-moon.html">geopolitics driving space travel have shifted</a>, and spacesuits are no longer expected to be just a form of protection. Instead, they are a critical way to improve the productivity of astronauts. This involves a rethink of not just the suits themselves, but the technology that supports them.</p>
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<img alt="Crew Dragon approaching the ISS" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Polaris Dawn mission uses modified version of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to perform the first commercial spacewalk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/view-of-spacex-crew-dragon-endeavour-approaching-station/">Nasa</a></span>
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<p>An array of powerful telecommunications technologies to connect astronauts with space stations and ground control sits alongside multisensory cameras, temperature readers and proximity sensors in present-day spacesuits.</p>
<p>Situational awareness – understanding key elements in the environment, such as the health of an astronaut – is a core tenet for modern spacesuit design and critical for the operator’s safety. The ability of a suit to track heart rate and other vital signs is important in a vacuum, where levels of oxygen need constant monitoring. </p>
<p>Expectations around the risks astronauts take have changed for the better. And the level of investment it takes to produce a spacesuit necessitates that it can be used for future tasks that may include lunar settlement in the next few decades.</p>
<p>The trade off that engineers must make when incorporating wearable technology like those already mentioned is weight. Will greater situational awareness result in a spacesuit that is too heavy to move in effectively? </p>
<p>When Elon Musk first hinted at challenges with the extravehicular activity spacesuit for Polaris Dawn <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1745941814165815717">in a presentation to SpaceX employees in January</a>, it was not difficulties with connected technology that he discussed, but of redesigning “the suit so that you actually move around in it”.</p>
<h2>Situational awareness</h2>
<p>However, when talking about mobility in a spacesuit, you need to consider the tasks that you want that mobility to support. </p>
<p>Before the advent of modern spacesuits, Apollo astronauts struggled to carry out missions. When drilling into the surface of the Moon with a hand drill to collect samples, astronauts found it difficult to provide enough downwards force to counteract the Moon’s weaker gravity. It was not until the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576522002879">invention of a zero-gravity drill</a>, decades later, that this problem would be addressed.</p>
<p>The current exploration of <a href="https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/books/ce/pbce131e">pneumatic exoskeletons</a>, providing the support necessary for movement in low gravity could be part of a solution. However, newer spacesuits may also need to interface with hardware, like robotic drills that exist outside the suit. This will also necessitate more mobility in spacesuits. </p>
<h2>Working with robots</h2>
<p>Offloading tasks, previously carried out by humans, to robots will be part of the future of space exploration. It’s a primary way that engineers will also be able to enhance the mobility of astronauts in spacesuits.</p>
<p>For example, when an astronaut goes on a spacewalk to inspect the condition of part of a space station and make any possible repairs, they are supported by a robotic arm that ensures they don’t float off into space. While jointed, this arm is rigid and can limit an astronaut’s movement.</p>
<p>An approach currently being explored to extend this range of movement is a climbing robot, that is attached to both the astronaut and the space station, that an individual can control through their spacesuit. This would allow the astronaut to move around the space station faster and with a greater range of movement than before, allowing them to reach and repair hard-to-access areas like corners.</p>
<p>While the eventual hope is that robots themselves can assess any damage to the space station and repair it, due to possible disruptions in normal operations, humans must be ready to step in. Possible disruptions could be natural, like a small meteor shower damaging the robot, or human-made, like hacking carried by a hostile group or state.</p>
<p>For the types of activities we want to accomplish in the future, this human-robot collaboration will be instrumental. Building a base on the Moon, as both <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/four-things-weve-learned-about-nasas-planned-base-camp-on-the-moon-180980589/">the US</a> and <a href="https://spacenews.com/china-attracts-moon-base-partners-outlines-project-timelines/">China</a> plan to do, will involve construction work and drilling, which humans will not be able to accomplish alone. Modern spacesuits will need to provide an interface to work with this new technology, and we can expect the suits to evolve in step with robotics.</p>
<p>The relationship between humans and robots is changing. It will go beyond spacewalks and robots’ previous uses as limited tools, to a situation where they are cooperative partners in space. The objectives of ten or 20 years from now, like building lunar settlements, exploring mineral deposits on the Moon and efficiently repairing space station modules can only be achieved using robotics. </p>
<p>Modern spacesuits will be a key foundation of this collaborative relationship, forming the interface where astronauts and robots can work together to achieve shared goals. So when we do once again leave our footprints on other worlds, we will no longer be alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yang Gao has received funding from UKRI, UKSA and ESA on conducting space related research. </span></em></p>The next generation of spacesuit needs to do more than simply protect an astronaut from the vacuum of space.Yang Gao, Professor of Robotics, Head of Centre for Robotics Research, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2242762024-02-27T00:36:58Z2024-02-27T00:36:58ZThe US just returned to the Moon after more than 50 years. How big a deal is it, really?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577849/original/file-20240226-20-dqo1ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C6%2C2035%2C1526&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/intuitivemachines/53534907523/">Intuitive Machines</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the few short years since the COVID pandemic changed our world, China, Japan and India have all successfully landed on the Moon. </p>
<p>Many more robotic missions have flown past the Moon, entered lunar orbit, or crashed into it in the past five years. This includes <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/kplo">spacecraft developed by South Korea</a>, <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2023/04/27/Dubai-s-ruler-announces-new-moon-mission-after-UAE-s-Rashid-Rover-lunar-crash-">the United Arab Emirates</a>, and an <a href="https://www.spaceil.com/">Israeli not-for-profit organisation</a>. </p>
<p>Late last week, the American company <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/">Intuitive Machines</a>, in collaboration with NASA, celebrated “America’s return to the Moon” with a successful landing of its Odysseus spacecraft.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/change-5-china-launches-sample-return-mission-to-the-moon-is-it-winning-the-new-space-race-150665">Chinese-built sample return missions</a> are far more complex than this project. And didn’t NASA ferry a dozen humans to the Moon back when microwaves were cutting-edge technology? So what is different about this mission developed by a US company?</p>
<h2>Back to the Moon</h2>
<p>The recent Odysseus landing stands out for two reasons. For starters, this is the first time a US-built spacecraft has landed – not crashed – on the Moon for over 50 years. </p>
<p>Secondly, and far more significantly, this is the first time a private company has pulled off a successful delivery of cargo to the Moon’s surface.</p>
<p>NASA has lately focused on destinations beyond the Earth–Moon system, including Mars. But with its <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">Commercial Lunar Payload Services</a> (CLPS) program, it has also funded US private industry to develop Moon landing concepts, hoping to reduce the delivery costs of lunar payloads and allow NASA engineers to focus on other challenges. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-moon-landing-marks-new-active-phase-of-lunar-science-with-commercial-launches-of-landers-that-will-study-solar-wind-and-peer-into-the-universes-dark-ages-219892">US Moon landing marks new active phase of lunar science, with commercial launches of landers that will study solar wind and peer into the universe’s dark ages</a>
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<p>Working with NASA, Intuitive Machines selected a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapert_(crater)">landing site</a> about 300 kilometres from the lunar south pole. Among other challenges, landing here requires entering a polar orbit around the Moon, which consumes additional fuel.</p>
<p>At this latitude, the land is heavily cratered and dotted with long shadows. This makes it challenging for autonomous landing systems to find a safe spot for a touchdown.</p>
<p>NASA spent about US$118 million (A$180 million) to land six scientific <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Technology/About_Payload_Systems">payloads</a> on Odysseus. This is relatively cheap. Using low-cost lunar landers, NASA will have an efficient way to test new space hardware that may then be flown on other Moon missions or farther afield.</p>
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<h2>Ten minutes of silence</h2>
<p>One of the technology tests on the Odysseus lander, NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/impact-story-navigation-doppler-lidar/">Navigation Doppler Lidar experiment</a> or NDL, appears to have proved crucial to the lander’s success.</p>
<p>As the lander neared the surface, the company realised its navigation systems had a problem. NASA’s NDL experiment is serendipitously designed to test precision landing techniques for future missions. It seems that at the last second, engineers bodged together a solution that involved feeding necessary data from NDL to the lander.</p>
<p>Ten minutes of silence followed before a <a href="https://twitter.com/Int_Machines/status/1760838333851148442">weak signal was detected</a> from Odysseus. Applause thundered through the mission control room. NASA’s administrator released a video congratulating everyone for returning America to the Moon. </p>
<p>It has since become clear the lander is not oriented perfectly upright. The solar panels are generating sufficient power and the team is slowly receiving the first images from the surface.</p>
<p>However, it’s likely Odysseus <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/165864/odysseus-moon-lander-is-tipped-over-but-still-sending-data/">partially toppled over</a> upon landing. Fortunately, at the time of writing, it seems most of the science payload may yet be deployed as it’s on the side of the lander facing upwards. The unlucky payload element facing downwards <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/23/world/odysseus-lunar-landing-sideways-scn/index.html">is a privately contributed artwork</a> connected <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/22/style/jeff-koons-moon-phases-odysseus-landing/index.html">to NFTs</a>.</p>
<p>The lander is now likely to survive for at least a week before the Sun sets on the landing site and a dark, frigid lunar night turns it into another museum piece of human technology frozen in the lunar <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/regolith">regolith</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Close-up view of a machine with golden foil and various panels with a grey moon surface in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577850/original/file-20240226-22-o9u0r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Moon visible 10km beneath the Odysseus lander after it entered lunar orbit on February 21.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/intuitivemachines/53544280843/">Intuitive Machines</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scientists-and-space-agencies-are-shooting-for-the-moon-5-essential-reads-on-modern-lunar-missions-216808">Scientists and space agencies are shooting for the Moon – 5 essential reads on modern lunar missions</a>
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<h2>Win some, lose some</h2>
<p>NASA’s commercial approach to stimulating low-cost payload services all but guarantees some failures. But eventually NASA hopes that several commercial launch and landing providers will emerge from the program, along with a few learning experiences.</p>
<p>The know-how accumulated at organisations operating hardware in space is at least as important as the development of the hardware itself.</p>
<p>The market for commercial lunar payloads remains unclear. Possibly, once the novelty wears off and brands are no longer able to generate buzz by, for example, <a href="https://www.columbia.com/omni-heat-infinity/moon-mission/">sending a piece of outdoor clothing to the Moon</a>, this source of funding may dwindle.</p>
<p>However, just as today, civil space agencies and taxpayers will continue to fund space exploration to address shared science goals.</p>
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<p>Ideally, commercial providers will offer NASA an efficient method for testing key technologies needed for its schedule of upcoming scientific robotic missions, as well as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">human spaceflight in the Artemis program</a>. Australia would also have the opportunity to test hardware at a reduced price.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that US budgetary issues, <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-warns-of-very-problematic-space-technology-budget-cuts/">funding cuts</a> and <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpl-workforce-update">subsequent lay-offs</a> do threaten these ambitions.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in Australia, we may have nothing to launch anyway. We continue to spend less <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/Budget/reviews/2023-24/ScienceResearch">than the OECD average on scientific research</a>, and only a few Australian universities – who traditionally lead such efforts – <a href="https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/moon-to-mars-initiative-demonstrator-mission-grants/grant-recipients">have received funding</a> provided by the Australian Space Agency.</p>
<p>If we do support planetary science and space exploration in the future, Australians will need to decide if we want to allocate our limited resources, competing with NASA and US private industry, to supply launch, landing and robotic services to the global space industry.</p>
<p>Alternatively, we could leverage these lower-cost payload providers to develop our own scientific space program, and locally developed space technologies associated with benefits to the knowledge economy, education and national security.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-wants-a-space-industry-so-why-wont-we-pay-for-the-basic-research-to-drive-it-178878">Australia wants a space industry. So why won't we pay for the basic research to drive it?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Flannery receives funding from the Australian Research Council and NASA. </span></em></p>A private company has successfully delivered cargo to the Moon’s surface for the first time. Here’s what that means for future space exploration.David Flannery, Planetary Scientist, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212922024-02-04T13:33:52Z2024-02-04T13:33:52ZWhy now is the time to address humanity’s impact on the moon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572329/original/file-20240131-15-x809b1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C6500%2C3532&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mining the moon for its resources is growing more and more likely.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans have always looked at the sky, using the stars as navigation guides or for spiritual storytelling. Every human civilization has looked to the stars and used celestial movements to measure time and find meaning.</p>
<p>This insatiable thirst for knowledge combined with technological advancements have made it possible for us to dream of travelling in space. These dreams became more and more real after the Second World War, the Industrial Revolution, the Cold War and the large-scale exploitation of the Earth’s resources.</p>
<p>Dreams of space travel started small with the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/sputnik-1/">launch of Sputnik-1 by the Soviet Union</a>, and escalated with the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/history/apollo-11-mission-overview/">U.S. Apollo landing on the moon in 1969</a>.</p>
<p>Six decades later, plans are ramping up for <a href="https://www.virgingalactic.com/">space tourism</a>, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">missions to the moon and Mars</a>, and <a href="https://www.space.com/moon-mining-gains-momentum">mining on the moon</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://lunarresourcesregistry.com/">Lunar Resources Registry</a>, a private business that locates valuable resources on the moon and helps investors conduct the required exploration and extraction operations, notes: “The space race is evolving into space industrialization.” </p>
<p>According to NASA, “the moon holds <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/infographics/the-lunar-gold-rush-how-moon-mining-could-work">hundreds of billions of dollars of untapped resources</a>,” including water, helium-3 and <a href="https://geology.com/articles/rare-earth-elements/">rare earth metals</a> used in electronics.</p>
<h2>The dawn of the Anthropocene</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a black and white photo of a footprint on a sedimentary surface" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572349/original/file-20240131-21-a3nhp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A close-up view of an astronaut’s footprint in the lunar soil, photographed in July 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/6901250">(Marshall Space Flight Center/NASA)</a></span>
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<p>As a group of academics researching various aspects of environmental sustainability on Earth, we are alarmed at the speed of these developments and the impacts resource exploitation will have on lunar and space environments. </p>
<p>There is a movement among the international geologic scientific community calling for a new epoch — <a href="https://brocku.ca/and/crawford-lake/">the Anthropocene</a> — reflecting the enormous extent to which human activity has altered the planet since the end of the Second World War.</p>
<p>Stratigraphers — geologists who study the layers of rock and sediment — look for measurable global impact of human activities in the geologic record. According to their research, the starting point for the Anthropocene has been identified as beginning in the 1950s, <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/anthropocene/">and the fallout from nuclear testing</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-term-anthropocene-jumped-from-geoscience-to-hashtags-before-most-of-us-knew-what-it-meant-130130">How the term 'Anthropocene' jumped from geoscience to hashtags – before most of us knew what it meant</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To shock humankind into preventing the extensive destruction in space that we have wrought on Earth, it may be effective to add a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01347-4">lunar Anthropocene</a>” to the moon’s geologic time scale.</p>
<p>The case for a lunar Anthropocene is interesting. It can be argued that since the first human contact with the moon’s surface, we have seen anthropogenic impact. This impact is likely to increase dramatically. This is presented as justification for a new geologic epoch for the moon. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a mushroom cloud caused by a nuclear explosion" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572350/original/file-20240131-19-c72v6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image captured immediately after the first atomic explosion in Alamogordo, N.M., on July 16, 1945. The presence of nuclear traces of the fallout from the initial nuclear explosions is claimed to mark the beginning of the Anthropocene.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Damaging the Earth</h2>
<p>This new “human epoch” is hotly debated among stratigraphers as well as researchers in other disciplines. For humanities researchers and artists, the importance of the Anthropocene lies in the power the concept has to evoke human responsibility for bringing the Earth’s system to a <a href="https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Space_for_our_climate/Understanding_climate_tipping_points">tipping point</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/136-the-shock-of-the-anthropocene"><em>The Shock of the Anthropocene</em></a>, historians Christophe Bonneuil and Jean-Baptiste Fressoz argue that the new human epoch entails recognizing that technoscientific advances — which have driven socio-political economies relying on extractivism, consumption and waste — have led to the extent of damage we measure on Earth at present. </p>
<p>For millenia, most societies understood the importance of their relationship with the natural world for survival. But industrialization and the endlessly growing economy in developed countries has destroyed this relationship. </p>
<p>For example, trees used to be respected for providing timber, food, shade and more. But our industrial growth changed all that; in the past 100 years, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/world-lost-one-third-forests">more trees have been cut</a> than had been felled in the preceding 9,000 years.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-trees-how-true-environmental-protection-requires-a-revolution-in-how-we-talk-about-and-with-our-forests-214899">'Killing' trees: How true environmental protection requires a revolution in how we talk about, and with, our forests</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A lunar Anthropocene</h2>
<p>And now the Anthropocene, this age of human impact, is also arriving on the moon.</p>
<p>NASA estimates there are already <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/national/500-000-pounds-human-trash-litters-the-moon-report-finds/wWeCaVjLmtz0u2ZunyqcLI/">227,000 kilos of human garbage littering the moon</a>, mostly from space explorations, including <a href="https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/strange-things-humans-have-left-on-moon">moon buggies and other equipment</a>, excrement, statues, golf balls, human ashes and flags, among other objects. </p>
<p>An increasing number of moon missions and extracting resources from the moon <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/06/moons-resources-could-be-destroyed-by-thoughtless-exploitation-nasa-warned">could destroy lunar environments</a>. This mirrors what has happened on our planet: humans have used this collection of “natural resources” and produced enough waste and degradation to bring us to the current <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/its-too-late-the-6th-mass-extinction-is-here/">sixth mass extinction precipice</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_tdsia6EZY8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">With the Artemis missions, NASA is planning to reestablish a human presence on the moon.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our throwaway society leads to not only habitat destruction on Earth, but also now on the moon and in space. We must rethink what we really need. Without a fully functional Earth system, including biodiversity and nature’s contribution to life, we will be unable to survive. </p>
<p>If the intent is to issue a word of caution and pre-emptively shock and elicit a feeling of responsibility on the part of those actors likely to impact the moon’s surface, it may very well be the right time to name a lunar Anthropocene. This may help prevent the kind of extensive and careless destruction we have caused and continue to witness on Earth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Daigle receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liette Vasseur receives funding from the Exploration New Frontiers Research Funds.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Ellen Good does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As space travel and lunar exploration becomes a near-future reality, we should consider the impact of human activities on the lunar environment.Christine Daigle, Professor of Philosophy, Brock UniversityJennifer Ellen Good, Associate Professor and Chair, Communication, Popular Culture and Film, Brock UniversityLiette Vasseur, Professor, Biological Sciences, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221732024-01-29T16:38:10Z2024-01-29T16:38:10ZNasa’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity has ended its mission – its success paves the way for more flying vehicles on other planets and moons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571847/original/file-20240129-15-v0glwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2270%2C1360&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Ingenuity helicopter on Mars.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/27421/ingenuity-at-two-years-on-mars/">NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is difficult to emphasise the significance of the milestone surpassed by Nasa’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity. </p>
<p>The little (1.8kg) helicopter <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/25608/nasas-perseverance-rover-lands-successfully-on-mars/">touched down with the Perseverance rover in 2021</a>. On 25 January, Nasa announced that the flying vehicle <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/">had to perform an emergency landing</a> which damaged one of its rotors and ended its mission. </p>
<hr>
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<hr>
<p>This reminds us that space exploration is still difficult to do. But Ingenuity’s three years on Mars proved that powered, controlled flight on Mars was possible. </p>
<p>The little helicopter lasted for far longer than had been planned and flew higher and further than many had envisaged. Beyond this Martian experiment, the rotorcraft’s success paves the way for other missions using flying vehicles to explore planets and moons.</p>
<p>The first landings on the Moon were static. The year 1969 was probably the most important one for space exploration, when <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/">Apollo 11</a> and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-12/">Apollo 12</a> brought astronauts to the lunar surface, but 1970 was the year for planetary exploration. </p>
<p>In 1970, we had the <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-060A">first soft landing on another planet</a>, Venus. The first robotic sample delivered to Earth from the Moon. And the first robot rover to drive around another body (also the Moon). </p>
<p>Since then, following over 50 years of planetary exploration and technology development, there have only been a small number of successful surface missions, and even fewer were able to move. Venus was visited by a dozen static landers between 1970 and 1985, and never again. </p>
<h2>From rovers to helicopters</h2>
<p>Mars was only successfully landed on three times between 1971 and 1976 before the <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-exploration/missions/pathfinder/">Pathfinder lander</a> and Sojourner rover arrived in 1997. The European Huygens spacecraft then landed on Titan, the moon of Saturn, in 2005. </p>
<p>These attempts at reaching the surface are rare, extremely difficult, and, historically, the landers were hardly ever mobile. Yet the Nasa <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/overview/">Mars rovers Spirit, Opportunity</a>, <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/">Curiosity</a>, and <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/">Perseverance</a> have all exceeded their designs and travelled further and further.</p>
<p>And Ingenuity flew.</p>
<p>It wasn’t the first spacecraft to fly. Those would be the balloons deployed by the <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1984-128F">Soviet Vega 1 and 2 missions</a>, which floated over Venus in 1985. But Ingenuity had control, cameras, and connectivity. It took photos of its rover and of Mars from an entirely new perspective. It commanded the world’s attention and captured our hearts.</p>
<p>In Moscow, I had the chance to see models and replicas of the Vega balloons and the first lunar rover. They made a stronger impression on me than the Mars rover twins being used at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. The Soviet missions were more audacious and different, and they were from generations ago, before my time and long before my career as a planetary scientist.</p>
<p>Ingenuity was audacious, original and completely new. The photos it took, of Perseverance, finding technology discarded from the descent module that carried it down to Mars and of the Martian vistas from a bird’s eye view, were breathtaking. Meanwhile, Perseverance also took videos of Ingenuity flying in the air. Nothing like it had ever seen before.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="CGI image of a silver drone with eight propellers over the Martian surface" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571881/original/file-20240129-23-b4r2m2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An artist’s impression of the Dragonfly spacecraft in flight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/Gallery/">NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Future flights</h2>
<p>Ingenuity had a rough ride getting there, however. The entire Mars 2020 mission (of Perseverance, Ingenuity and their transport systems) was sudden. </p>
<p>Following Nasa’s withdrawal from the joint European Space Agency ExoMars programme, which included a Mars rover mission, the US space agency started developing one on its own. This rover, later named Perseverance, went from announcement to concept to development and launch in just seven-and-a-half years.</p>
<p>And Ingenuity wasn’t included onboard at first. As an idea, it was proposed late in the development phase of Mars 2020, and faced serious opposition. It added extra complexity, cost, risk and new failure modes. It was also driven by an engineering objective, with the possibility of a little outreach – the opportunity to communicate the mission’s science and engineering to the public – on the side.</p>
<p>Ingenuity wasn’t intended to last for very long. It was designed to prove helicopter flight in the thin Mars atmosphere. It targeted five short flights over a month. Possible outcomes included hard landings, toppling over, losing power if its solar panels were covered in dust, or losing communication when it was far from the rover (this happened several times). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Large silver balloon being launched in the desert." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571874/original/file-20240129-25-1d0l8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aerial robotic balloons, or aerobots, like this Nasa prototype, could one day explore Venus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpls-venus-aerial-robotic-balloon-prototype-aces-test-flights">Nasa / JPL-Caltech</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it went way beyond expectations, surviving three years on the Martian surface, even through a dusty season, and making 72 flights. Much of its success was aided by the communication network that now exists at Mars. </p>
<p>Ingenuity receives instructions and transmits data to Perseverance, which communicates with a fleet of satellites that include the European ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, Nasa’s Maven spacecraft, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These, in turn, communicate with two deep space networks on Earth, systems of radio antennas around the world that command and track spacecraft. </p>
<p>It took 50 years of planetary exploration to get here, but already we can see the impact on future exploration that Ingenuity’s mission is having. The next interplanetary rotorcraft will be the <a href="https://dragonfly.jhuapl.edu/">Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan</a>. </p>
<p>It will be a very different from Ingenuity. It will weigh about a ton and fly with eight rotors. It is a huge vehicle designed to fly in Titan’s thick atmosphere. </p>
<p>One of the next Red Planet missions will be Mars Sample Return, aiming to collect sample containers of Martian soil being prepared and cached by Perseverance. This has been planned to be carried out with use of a rover, but the success of Ingenuity has led to the idea – and now the development – of <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/spacecraft/sample-recovery-helicopters/">a helicopter</a> to do that. </p>
<p>The future that Ingenuity has opened up for us is exciting. We’ll see helicopters on Mars and Venus, more balloons on Venus, swimming vehicles under the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and maybe even an aeroplane or two.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Olsen in an employee of the University of Oxford and receives funding from the UK Space Agency in support of Mars science.</span></em></p>Among the missions being planned is a huge helicopter drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan.Kevin Olsen, UKSA Mars Science Fellow, Department of Physics, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2195462024-01-02T16:49:57Z2024-01-02T16:49:57ZPrivatised Moon landings: the two US missions set to open a new era of commercial lunar exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566549/original/file-20231219-23-qde9s6.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C1839%2C984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10836">Photograph: Nasa (Goddard Space Flight Center)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two commercial spacecraft are scheduled to launch to the Moon early in 2024 under a Nasa initiative called the Commercial Lunar Payload Service <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-lunar-payload-services/">CLPS</a>. This programme is intended to kickstart a commercial transportation service that can deliver Nasa experiments and other payloads to the lunar surface.</p>
<p>If successful, these missions will represent the first landings on the Moon by spacecraft designed and flown by private companies. They could potentially open up a new era of commercial lunar exploration and science. </p>
<p>CLPS was inaugurated by Nasa in 2018. An initial pool of nine companies received an invitation to join the programme. They included <a href="https://www.astrobotic.com/">Astrobotic</a> and <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/">Intuitive Machines</a>, the two companies behind these missions. Both missions expect to land within a week after lift-off.</p>
<p>The first launch, and the first Nasa flight of 2024, is the Peregrine lunar lander, built by Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic. It is scheduled to launch at the earliest on January 8. Broadly speaking, the lander is a box the size of a medium-sized garden shed containing several separate experiments. </p>
<p>These include a set of mirrors called a laser retro-reflector array, used for accurate positioning of the lander from orbit. There are also a number of spectrometers – instruments that separate and measure the distinct colours found in light. These will measure radiation on the lunar surface and look for signatures of water in lunar soil.</p>
<p>One of them, the <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=PEREGRN-1-02">Neutron Spectrometer System</a>, will look for hydrogen-containing materials on the surface, which can indicate the presence of water below ground. This water could one day be used by human explorers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Astrobotic Peregrine lander." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1279&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566548/original/file-20231219-19-i3ffem.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander will touch down near the Gruithuisen Domes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20231114-PH-ILW01_0100">Isaac Watson/Nasa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are two principle sources of dangerous radiation for humans in space. One is the Sun, which unleashes electrons, protons and heavier ions that are accelerated to a significant fraction of the speed of light. </p>
<p>These solar energetic particle events (SEPs) are more likely to occur during the Sun’s peak of activity (solar maximum), which occurs every 11 years. However, that does not mean there is a respite during the solar minimum.</p>
<p>The other source of harmful radiation is galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). These energetic particles originate outside the Solar System, probably in explosive phenomena such as exploding stars (supernovas).</p>
<p>During periods of lower solar activity (including the solar minimum), the Sun’s magnetic field, which extends throughout the Solar System, weakens. This enables <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Solar-cycle-%20modulation-and-anti-correlation-of-GCR-flux-with-solar-activity-Shown-are_fig6_257343697">more GCRs</a> to reach us instead. </p>
<p>Another spectrometer on Peregrine will measure both SEPs and GCRs on the Moon. This is important for examining how dangerous the radiation environment at the lunar surface will be for future human explorers.</p>
<h2>Polar landing</h2>
<p>The second spacecraft to launch early in 2024 is the <a href="https://www.intuitivemachines.com/im-1">Nova-C lander</a>. It is designed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines and has a similar volume to Peregrine, but in the shape of a tall, hexagonal cylinder. It will carry several instruments including its own laser retro-reflector array. Nova-C is currently scheduled to launch in mid-February.</p>
<p>Other instruments include a suite of cameras for producing a 3D image of Nova-C’s landing site. This will allow scientists to estimate how much material is blown away by the landing rocket’s exhaust plume during the descent. Potentially, any material blown away can be imaged to get an idea of the composition of surface material. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Nova-C lander." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566583/original/file-20231219-23-2hpa5p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A model of the Nova-C lander.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/NHQ201905310022">Nasa (Goddard Space Flight Center)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The “radio observations of the lunar surface photo-electron sheath” (<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2102.02331.pdf">Rolses</a>) instrument is designed to measure how the extremely tenuous lunar atmosphere and the Moon’s surface dust environment affect radio waves. </p>
<p>The behaviour of electrically charged dust particles on the Moon is a technical challenge which future explorers will need to deal with, as the abrasive particles can attach themselves to surfaces and mechanical devices and potentially cause harm if <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/the-%20next-big-challenge-for-lunar-astronauts-moon-dust/">inhaled</a> by astronauts.</p>
<p>A privately built experiment onboard Nova-C is the International Lunar Observatory <a href="https://iloa.org/ilo-x-precursor/">ILO-X</a>, which will aim to capture some of the first images of the Milky Way galaxy from the Moon’s surface. This would demonstrate the concept of lunar-based astronomy.</p>
<h2>Landing locations</h2>
<p>Peregrine’s landing site is a bay on the west side of Mare Imbrium, known as Sinus Viscositatis (Bay of Stickiness). Here, two volcanic mountains called the <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/482/a-lunar-%20mystery-the-gruithuisen-domes/">Gruithuisen Domes</a> are made of a different material to the surrounding plains. </p>
<p>The plains are a form of basalt, while the domes are composed of silica. Both are volcanic in origin, but one appears to have been formed by lava with a viscosity of mango chutney (the silica), and the other by runnier lava (the basalt). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Gruithuisen Domes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566614/original/file-20231219-29-7x7oaq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Gruithuisen Domes appear to have been formed by silica lavas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/482/a-lunar-mystery-the-gruithuisen-domes/">Nasa (GSFC)/Arizona State University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On Earth, silica lavas typically require the presence both of water and plate tectonics. However, plate tectonics are not known to be present on the Moon, and neither is water in the quantities necessary for silica lavas. The Gruithuisen Domes thus present a geological enigma which Peregrine could go some way to resolving.</p>
<p>The landing location for Nova-C is Malapert A crater – which is of particular interest for lunar exploration, as it lies close to the Moon’s south pole. The surrounding mountains permanently shield this depression from sunlight, leaving it in constant darkness. </p>
<p>Consequently, it is one of the coldest locations in the Solar System and, given the lack of sunlight, a place where water ice delivered by comets hitting the surface over the aeons could remain stable. Future human explorers could use it for life support and making rocket fuel.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Lunar south pole." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566615/original/file-20231219-27-888tuc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image of the Moon’s South Pole showing the Malapert crater (foreground).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5127">Nasa's Scientific Visualization Studio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are additional payloads on both spacecraft from private investors. Peregrine contains the “DHL Spacebox”, which will carry personal items from paying customers, while Nova-C contains “The Humanity Hall of Fame” – a list of names to be sent to the Moon for posterity. Such payloads can generate additional funding for the launch companies.</p>
<p>Several other companies are due to launch their first payloads to the Moon in the next couple of years. With greater input from private companies – assuming the these first few missions succeed – we may soon witness a new era in lunar exploration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Peregrine and Nova-C landers are due to carry out valuable science at two diverse lunar locations.Gareth Dorrian, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Space Science, University of BirminghamIan Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177202023-11-17T17:18:15Z2023-11-17T17:18:15ZEarthrise: historian uncovers the true origins of the ‘image of the century’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560179/original/file-20231117-24-a4qtm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C9%2C2035%2C1523&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The restored image of Earthrise. A high quality black and white image was coloured using hues from the original colour photos.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181224.html">Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 8 Crew, Bill Anders; Processing and License: Jim Weigang</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/nov/10/frank-borman-commander-first-apollo-moon-mission-dies-aged-95">death of Frank Borman</a>, commander of Nasa’s <a href="https://nasa.gov/missions/apollo/apollo-8-mission-details/">Apollo 8 mission in 1968</a>, has focused attention on that incredible first voyage to the Moon. </p>
<p>It took place eight months before <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/">Apollo 11</a>, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored the lunar surface for the first time. However, the impact of Apollo 8’s “Earthrise” picture – the sight of the Earth from the Moon – now seems even greater than that of the first landing. </p>
<p>For many years, the story behind the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/apollo-8-earthrise/">famous Earthrise photo</a>, was that the crew were caught off-guard by the blue orb rising from behind the Moon. But <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-story-behind-apollo-8s-famous-earthrise-photo/">even if they were preoccupied</a>, the astronauts knew it was coming.</p>
<p>Another unforgettable event during the mission was a reading by the crew <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/318/apollo-8-genesis-reading/">from the Book of Genesis</a>, broadcast to the world at Christmas. Detailed research I’ve conducted in Nasa’s archives has revealed more clearly how much planning lay behind these dramatic moments. The famous Earthrise picture, a wonky snap taken in a hurry, was improvised, but it had been anticipated. </p>
<h2>Earthrise restored</h2>
<p>After entering lunar orbit, they nearly missed seeing the Earth. Only on the fourth orbit, when the capsule flipped round 180 degrees to point forwards, did they notice it. Borman confirmed to me that at that moment they were “taken by surprise – too busy with lunar observation on the first three orbits”.</p>
<p>But the <a href="https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/UnderwoodRW/underwoodrw.htm">Apollo programme’s director of photography, Dick Underwood</a>, was anxious to set the wider record straight. He explained: “Hours were spent with the lunar crews, including the Apollo 8 crew, in briefing on exactly how to set up the camera, which film to use … these briefings were most comprehensive.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Apollo 8 crew." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Apollo 8 crew presenting the Earthrise picture to the governor of Texas, John Connally, in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nasa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There were, however, battles within Nasa about what images the astronauts should focus on, with the management insisting on shots of <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A08_PressKit.pdf">lunar geology and potential landing sites</a>. Dick Underwood explained: “I argued hard for a shot of Earthrise, and we had impressed upon the astronauts that we definitely wanted it.” </p>
<p>Borman was joined on the mission by two other astronauts: Jim Lovell, who was the command module pilot, and Bill Anders, who had the title of lunar module pilot. Nasa had intended for Apollo 8 to test the lunar module, but it was behind schedule so the mission didn’t take one.</p>
<p>At the pre-launch press conference, Borman had looked forward to getting “good views of the Earth from the Moon” and Lovell to seeing “the Earth set and the Earth rise”. </p>
<p>The official mission plan directed the astronauts to take photos of Earth, but only as the lowest priority. When the key moment came, the astronauts were indeed taken by surprise, but not for long. </p>
<p>Anders was at a side window taking photos of craters using a camera with black and white film when he saw the Earth rise from behind the Moon. “Look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up,” <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-story-behind-apollo-8s-famous-earthrise-photo/">Anders exclaimed</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bill Anders’ first picture of Earthrise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Anders quickly took a sharp shot of the Earth emerging above the lunar horizon. Then he and Lovell argued briefly over who should have the colour film camera, while Borman tried to calm them down. </p>
<p>It was Anders who took the blurry, hastily framed, overexposed <a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020127.html">colour shot of Earthrise</a>, later dubbed the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/dec/22/behold-blue-plant-photograph-earthrise">image of the century</a>. But in the other camera was a much better shot, long ignored because it was in black and white.</p>
<p>That first mono image was spot-on. A restored “Earthrise” photo, recently coloured by experts using the later shots as a reference, conveys the stunning sight beheld by the astronauts.</p>
<p>This shot, revealing the Earth as a majestic but fragile oasis. As Lovell mused: “The loneliness out here is awe-inspiring … it makes us realise what you have back on Earth.” For Borman too it was “intensely emotional … We said nothing to each other, but maybe we shared another thought I had: ‘This must be what God sees.’”</p>
<h2>The Genesis reading</h2>
<p>In 1968, as now, space travel was viewed as a scientific and technological domain. But the mission was also sent by one of the world’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_United_States#:%7E:text=Christianity%20is%20the%20most%20prevalent,is%20Christian%20(210%20million).">most strongly Christianised countries</a>, and the crew was not about to leave its cultural background behind.</p>
<p>It was a point of pride at Nasa that, whereas Soviet cosmonauts were <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210406-how-russias-cosmonauts-trained-for-space">tightly
monitored and controlled</a>, their own astronauts were free to speak their minds. Extraordinary as it now seems, they were left to decide for themselves what to say in their historic live broadcast from lunar orbit.</p>
<p>Borman knew that he had to come up with something special for the Christmas broadcast. A few weeks beforehand, he was told by a press officer: “We figure more people will be listening to your voice (during the broadcast) than that of any man in history. So we want you to say something appropriate.” </p>
<p>While Neil Armstrong’s “one small step” message was <a href="https://time.com/5621999/neil-armstrong-quote/">carefully considered inside Nasa</a>, no one in the agency knew in advance what Borman would say.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Earthrise" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The original Earthrise photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nasa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With only two minutes left before radio contact was lost as the spacecraft passed behind the Moon, Anders said: “The crew of Apollo 8 have a message that we would like to send to you.” </p>
<p>He then <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToHhQUhdyBY">read from the Book of Genesis</a>: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth; and the Earth was without form and void.” He continued: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” </p>
<p>Lovell and Borman took over to read the next verses, and Borman signed off: “Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.”</p>
<p>As Apollo 8 dipped out of radio contact, the world was left to absorb the impact. “For those moments I felt the presence of creation and the creator,” Nasa’s <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/eugene-kranz">chief flight director Gene Kranz</a> later recalled. “Tears were on my cheeks.” </p>
<p>Somehow Borman and his colleagues found the perfect words to convey
their experience. But Borman had thought about the assignment carefully, asking a <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-archive/apollo-8-and-11-notes-and-letters-bourgin/sova-nasm-1995-0025">publicist friend to help out with the text</a>. </p>
<p>This was Simon Bourgin, science policy officer at the US Information Agency. Bourgin in turn asked a journalist, Joe Laitin, who <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-apollo-8-delivered-moment-christmas-eve-peace-and-understanding-world-180976431/">mentioned the task to his wife, Christine</a>. </p>
<p>She looked in the Old Testament and suggested: “Why don’t you begin at the beginning?” She recognised the primeval power of the creation story in the first book of Genesis, with its evocative description of the Earth. </p>
<p>Borman immediately recognised that this was just right, and had it typed up. He had superbly vindicated Nasa’s trust in him. </p>
<p>While inspiration and a degree of freedom were involved in the Earthrise photo and Genesis reading, behind their execution lay careful planning and professionalism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Poole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Borman’s professionalism helped the risky Apollo 8 mission become a success.Robert Poole, Professor of History, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2119932023-08-23T03:12:35Z2023-08-23T03:12:35ZRussia has declared a new space race, hoping to join forces with China. Here’s why that’s unlikely<p>This week, the Russian space agency Roscosmos had hoped to return to the Moon after an absence of nearly 50 years. Instead, on Saturday it lost control of its Luna-25 lander. <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/162856/russias-luna-25-lander-crashed-into-the-moon/">The agency explained</a> the spacecraft “switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface”.</p>
<p>Yet, in an interview aired on state television, the agency’s chief, Yuri Borisov, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-22/russia-declares-the-race-has-begun-for-moons-resources/102757808">pledged</a> his nation’s unwavering commitment to lunar exploration:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is not just about the prestige of the country and the achievement of some geopolitical goals. This is about ensuring defensive capabilities and achieving technological sovereignty.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Roscosmos had been keen to beat a rival Indian spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, to achieve a soft landing near the lunar south pole. The Indian mission remains <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3.html">on schedule</a> for a soft landing today (around 9pm AEST).</p>
<p>Despite the Luna-25 failure, the head of Russia’s space agency also declared a “new race to exploit the Moon’s resources has begun”, and there would be a potential crewed Russian-Chinese mission in the future, as reported by Reuters. His statement sounds like it is less about the scientific exploration of the lunar surface, and more about geopolitical posturing.</p>
<p>I recently spent the better part of a decade as a senior academic at Peking University, and in July 2023 was appointed as Executive Director of the <a href="http://www.issibj.ac.cn/au/ms/">International Space Science Institute–Beijing</a>. These appointments have allowed me to gain unique insights into the processes driving China’s space science program.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-us-in-a-space-race-against-china-203473">Is the US in a space race against China?</a>
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<h2>A lunar outpost</h2>
<p>The lunar south pole region is thought to contain <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/inside-and-out/composition/water-and-ices/">significant water reservoirs</a> locked in grains of ice. That makes the area interesting as a potential staging post for future missions to Mars and beyond, as lunar explorers can use the water for survival.</p>
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<p>In early 2021, Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration signed a memorandum of understanding <a href="https://carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/86094">to jointly establish</a> an International Lunar Research Station by the mid-2030s.</p>
<p>The lunar south pole may well be a prime site for such a robotic base, which might also involve the European Space Agency and other international partners.</p>
<p>Yet human involvement in Sino-Russian space missions is not anticipated any time soon. Therefore, Borisov’s assertion that Russia would explore a joint crewed mission came as an unlikely surprise. He may well have been speaking to a domestic audience, in an attempt to salvage his agency’s credentials.</p>
<p>Despite an impressive number of collaboration agreements, high-profile Sino-Russian space projects remain few and far between. If joint human exploration of the Moon is not currently on the cards, it is highly unlikely the Chinese space authorities will take the bait.</p>
<h2>No need for a space race</h2>
<p>China has always carefully planned its approach to Solar System exploration and human spaceflight, navigating a succession of clearly defined technological benchmarks. China will unlikely be coerced into rushing its planned milestones. As such, the notion of a “space race” involving China seems a moot point.</p>
<p>Chinese scientists and engineers have become highly adept at developing homegrown capabilities. They no longer require international assistance. If anything, in the Sino-Russian relationship, Russia is now well and truly the junior partner. Its ageing technology pales in comparison with the leaps of modernisation we have witnessed in relation to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program">China’s progress in space</a>. </p>
<p>Although the country only joined the league of space-faring nations in 1970 with the launch of its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1 (The East is Red 1), it has since made massive strides in technology readiness.</p>
<p>China’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Lunar_Exploration_Program">lunar exploration program</a> has gradually built on proven capabilities, from entering the Moon’s orbit on its first lunar missions (Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2; named after the Chinese Moon goddess) to achieving soft landings (Chang'e 3 and Chang'e 4) and a successful sample return mission, Chang'e 5. </p>
<h2>Venturing out to the planets</h2>
<p>Solar System exploration is now firmly on China’s agenda, not least because of the recent Tianwen 1 (Heavenly Questions) mission to Mars. That mission successfully deployed the Zhurong rover (named after a Chinese mythological god of fire), a major technological feat in its own right.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/on-its-first-try-chinas-zhurong-rover-hit-a-mars-milestone-that-took-nasa-decades-161078">On its first try, China's Zhurong rover hit a Mars milestone that took NASA decades</a>
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<p>Similarly, China’s human spaceflight program is starting to yield impressive results. As the country’s scientists and engineers are banned from collaborating with their federally funded US counterparts <a href="https://defense360.csis.org/bad-idea-the-wolf-amendment-limiting-collaboration-with-china-in-space/">by the 2011 Wolf Amendment</a>, the <a href="http://en.cmse.gov.cn/">China Manned Space</a> program has been pursuing construction of a sovereign space station, Tiangong (Heavenly Palace). </p>
<p>Future plans include the development of a next-generation crewed spacecraft to replace the workhorse Shenzhou (Divine Vessel on the Heavenly River) series. <a href="https://www.space.com/china-new-spacecraft-crewed-moon-missions.html">We are told</a> it will be capable of carrying <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803101916587;jsessionid=21A809B67D87BFA79E43FBAE9E474FE1">taikonauts</a> to the Moon, but that does not mean Russian <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cosmonaut">cosmonauts</a> will be invited to come along. </p>
<p>Although China can no longer boast the economic successes of the past and external cash injections might be seen as helpful, <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/02/17/economy-economy-losing-190-billion-putin-ukraine-invasion/">Russia’s financial losses</a> due to its ongoing war in Ukraine may well make any such overtures merely wishful thinking.</p>
<p>Russia’s prowess in space appears to have become just a dim reflection of its Soviet precursor.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-new-space-station-opens-for-business-in-an-increasingly-competitive-era-of-space-activity-195882">China's new space station opens for business in an increasingly competitive era of space activity</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard de Grijs is the Executive Director of the International Space Science Institute–Beijing (ISSI-BJ). ISSI-BJ is an international, politically neutral platform for the exploitation of space science data and the preparation for future space-borne scientific missions.</span></em></p>China has made significant advances in space exploration on its own steam. It doesn’t need a partnership with Russia.Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics / Executive Director, International Space Science Institute-Beijing, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2117072023-08-21T15:27:04Z2023-08-21T15:27:04ZChandrayaan-3: India hopes to land a rover on the Moon for the first time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543290/original/file-20230817-29-yjhnp7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2849%2C1433&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Vikram lander should carry the rover to the lunar surface.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_curtainraiser_video.html">ISRO</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Wednesday August 23, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) mission Chandrayaan-3 will deploy its lander and rover to the surface of the Moon. </p>
<p>As the name suggests, this is the third mission in a programme of Indian lunar exploration. Various problems affected the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/Chandrayaan">previous two Chandrayaan satellites</a>, so officials at the Indian space agency will be hoping for a fully successful mission this time.</p>
<p>So what will Chandrayaan-3 do? We already have some <a href="https://twitter.com/isro/status/1692476417093890282">nice images of the lunar surface</a> taken by the lander module camera, which shows the successful separation from its propulsion module – the part that stays in lunar orbit. But the main task for the lander and rover is to show that the ISRO can successfully perform a gentle landing on the Moon.</p>
<p>The lander unit contains four main scientific instruments, including thermal and atmospheric instruments, and a laser retroreflector array. These reflectors are used to measure the distance to the Moon from the Earth to a high degree of accuracy. </p>
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<img alt="Pragyan" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543689/original/file-20230821-10983-3qb6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543689/original/file-20230821-10983-3qb6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543689/original/file-20230821-10983-3qb6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543689/original/file-20230821-10983-3qb6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543689/original/file-20230821-10983-3qb6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543689/original/file-20230821-10983-3qb6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543689/original/file-20230821-10983-3qb6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Pragyan rover will explore the chamical composition of the surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Chandrayaan3_curtainraiser_video.html">ISRO</a></span>
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<p>Essentially, a high power laser is fired towards the Moon and the time taken for the light pulse to reach the Moon, and be reflected back to Earth, is measured. Knowing the speed of light, the time taken (roughly 2.5 seconds there and back) gives us a distance. The lander will also be able to measure moonquakes, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/moonquakes">weak seismic activity</a> which occurs on a monthly basis. </p>
<p>The speed that the waves travel across the Moon can be used to work out its density and it is hoped that more accurate values for the depth of the lunar crust (its outermost layer) can be calculated.</p>
<p>The rover also contains scientific instrument packages. Its main focus is on identifying the composition of the lunar surface through <a href="https://research.aber.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/lunar-surface-composition-from-x-ray-fluorescence-spectroscopy">x-ray spectrometry</a>.</p>
<h2>Previous flights</h2>
<p>The first mission in the programme, Chandrayaan-1, was launched in 2008. Both subsequent missions share a technological heritage with this original spacecraft. It consisted of a satellite and a probe designed to hit the surface at high speed. For the first year of planned operation, the satellite provided some groundbreaking results, including <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/chandrayaan-1/in-depth/">mapping the Moon</a> in a range of wavelengths. It was looking to determine the composition of the lunar surface, focusing on elements such as calcium, magnesium and iron. </p>
<p>Arguably the most successful result, though, was in conjunction with the onboard moon impact probe. This was a planetary penetrator, which is a small number of instruments packed into aluminium for protection and then fired at the surface. The plan was to prepare for a later lunar rover but the probe also allowed the orbiter to detect <a href="https://www.planetary.org/articles/2430">liquid water on the lunar surface</a>. Water had long been thought to exist as ice, hidden away in shadowed craters at the Moon’s poles.</p>
<p>The high speed impact of the penetrator threw large numbers of particles from the lunar surface into the atmosphere. By analysing how sunlight is scattered from these particles, their chemical composition can be determined.</p>
<p>The Chandrayaan-1 mission was classed as a success, despite the fact that only half way through its planned mission timeline, communication was lost.</p>
<p>The intention with the second Chandrayaan mission was to take a lander and rover to the lunar surface. The orbiter reached the moon in 2019 and dropped the combined Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to the surface two and a half weeks later.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in a similar incident to that seen with Chandrayaan-1, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/failure-part-game-indian-spacecraft-presumed-lost-after-moon-landing-attempt">communication was lost</a> and the combined mass of almost 1.5 tonnes – roughly the weight of a saloon car – crashed into the surface.</p>
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<img alt="Image of the Moon from orbit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543706/original/file-20230821-15-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543706/original/file-20230821-15-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543706/original/file-20230821-15-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543706/original/file-20230821-15-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543706/original/file-20230821-15-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543706/original/file-20230821-15-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543706/original/file-20230821-15-qtirft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Chandrayaan-3’s onboard cameras have already sent back images of the Moon from orbit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Ch3_Video_Lunar_Orbit_Insertion.html">ISRO</a></span>
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<h2>Third time lucky</h2>
<p>Will this third mission escape the apparent curse that has plagued the previous two? So far, things are looking very hopeful. The mission was launched on July 14 2023 and is currently still communicating with Earth after five weeks. </p>
<p>The deployment of the lander and rover will be the true test, however. If successful, it will mean that India becomes only the fourth country to have had a working rover on the lunar surface behind Soviet Union, US, and China. This will massively improve its reputation for scientific space launches, and potentially gives the agency more leverage for funding future mission planning as well.</p>
<p>An important part of this mission is also the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66530022">cost of US$75 million (£59 million)</a> – an exceptionally low budget for a research mission leaving the Earth. It is comparable to the cost of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch. It is worth comparing this cost to the recent Nasa Artemis mission which has future planned costs per launch of US$800 million (£629 million) – not to mention the $13.1 billion (£10.3 billion) development costs over the last 20 years.</p>
<p>The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is still working, in orbit around the Moon. This means there <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/failed-chandrayaan-2-mission-orbiter-chandrayaan-3-isro-8898090/">are options</a> for Chandrayaan-3 in the event that anything should go wrong, as the other satellite can act as a back-up communications platform, reducing the chance of a mission failure.</p>
<p>If successful, the results from both the lander and rover will help scientists scout future lunar landing sites and potential lunar base locations. A knowledge of the landing site is essential for any larger structures, as there is a lot less margin for error due to the higher costs. Being able to build structures out of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-a-moon-base-120259">local resources such as lunarcrete</a> – using lunar soil as a cement-like building material – is a great way to reduce the mass that needs to be launched from Earth. But it also requires the right material to be located nearby.</p>
<p>Personally, I am hoping for Chandrayaan-3’s success, as it seems more and more that private companies are competing to carry out space missions and exploration. With the primary end goal being a commercial one – either tourism or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/mar/04/end-colonial-approach-to-space-exploration-scientists-urge">resource collection</a> – it is likely that that scientific discovery will be left out, reduced to an afterthought, <a href="https://www.space.com/environmental-impact-space-tourism-flights">or even hindered</a>. So every success by a space agency means more free-to-use data for both the scientific community and the public.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Whittaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Indian spacecraft could lay the ground for future missions with astronauts, and even for lunar bases.Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2033082023-04-18T16:12:00Z2023-04-18T16:12:00ZBuilding telescopes on the Moon could transform astronomy – and it’s becoming an achievable goal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520796/original/file-20230413-117-illn0w.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C1%2C1013%2C570&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The far side of the Moon is an attractive place to carry out astronomy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11747">NASA / Ernie Wright</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Lunar exploration is undergoing a renaissance. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_the_Moon">Dozens of missions</a>, organised by multiple space agencies – and increasingly by commercial companies – are set to visit the Moon by the end of this decade. Most of these will involve small robotic spacecraft, but NASA’s ambitious <a href="https://theconversation.com/astronauts-are-returning-to-the-moon-but-they-wont-be-repeating-the-apollo-missions-202489">Artemis programme</a>, aims to return humans to the lunar surface by the middle of the decade.</p>
<p>There are various reasons for all this activity, including geopolitical posturing and the search for lunar resources, such as <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/19/1001857/how-moon-lunar-mining-water-ice-rocket-fuel/">water-ice at the lunar poles</a>, which can be extracted and turned into hydrogen and oxygen propellant for rockets. However, science is also sure to be a major beneficiary. </p>
<p>The Moon <a href="https://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/HRE/03_PhysicalSciences_Planetary_Science.pdf">still has much to tell us</a> about the origin and evolution of the solar system. It also has scientific value as a platform for observational astronomy. </p>
<p>The potential role for astronomy of Earth’s natural satellite was discussed at a <a href="https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/2023/02/astronomy-moon/">Royal Society meeting</a> earlier this year. The meeting itself had, in part, been sparked by the enhanced access to the lunar surface now in prospect.</p>
<h2>Far side benefits</h2>
<p>Several types of astronomy would benefit. The most obvious is radio astronomy, which can be conducted from the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth – the far side. </p>
<p>The lunar far side is permanently shielded from the radio signals generated by humans on Earth. During the lunar night, it is also protected from the Sun. These characteristics make it probably <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rsta/2021/379/2188?volume=379&vol=379&issue=2188&publicationCode=rsta">the most “radio-quiet” location in the whole solar system</a> as no other planet or moon has a side that permanently faces away from the Earth. It is therefore ideally suited for radio astronomy.</p>
<p>Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic energy – as are, for example, infrared, ultraviolet and visible-light waves. They are defined by having different wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum. </p>
<p>Radio waves with wavelengths longer than about 15m are blocked by Earth’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionosphere">ionoshere</a>. But radio waves at these wavelengths reach the Moon’s surface unimpeded. For astronomy, this is the last unexplored region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and it is best studied from the lunar far side.</p>
<p>Observations of the cosmos at these wavelengths come under the umbrella of “low frequency radio astronomy”. These wavelengths are uniquely able to probe the structure of the early universe, especially the cosmic “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_the_universe#Dark_Ages">dark ages</a>” – an era before the first galaxies formed. </p>
<p>At that time, most of the matter in the universe, excluding the mysterious <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter">dark matter</a>, was in the form of neutral hydrogen atoms. These emit and absorb radiation with a characteristic wavelength of 21cm. Radio astronomers have been using this property to study hydrogen clouds in our own galaxy – the Milky Way – since the 1950s. </p>
<p>Because the universe is constantly expanding, the 21cm signal generated by hydrogen in the early universe has been shifted to much longer wavelengths. As a result, hydrogen from the cosmic “dark ages” will appear to us with wavelengths greater than 10m. The lunar far side may be the only place where we can study this. </p>
<p>The astronomer Jack Burns provided a good summary of the relevant <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2019.0564">science background</a> at the recent Royal Society meeting, calling the far side of the moon a “pristine, quiet platform to conduct low radio frequency observations of the early Universe’s Dark Ages, as well as space weather and magnetospheres associated with habitable exoplanets”.</p>
<h2>Signals from other stars</h2>
<p>As Burns says, another potential application of far side radio astronomy is trying to detect radio waves from charged particles trapped by magnetic fields – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere">magnetospheres</a> – of planets orbiting other stars. </p>
<p>This would help to assess how capable these exoplanets are of hosting life. Radio waves from exoplanet magnetospheres would probably have wavelengths greater than 100m, so they would require a radio-quiet environment in space. Again, the far side of the Moon will be the best location.</p>
<p>A similar argument can be made for <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-astronomers-want-build-seti-observatory-moon-180975966/">attempts to detect signals from intelligent aliens</a>. And, by opening up an unexplored part of the radio spectrum, there is also the possibility of making serendipitous discoveries of new phenomena.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520108/original/file-20230410-5761-65x14.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520108/original/file-20230410-5761-65x14.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520108/original/file-20230410-5761-65x14.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520108/original/file-20230410-5761-65x14.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520108/original/file-20230410-5761-65x14.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520108/original/file-20230410-5761-65x14.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520108/original/file-20230410-5761-65x14.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Artist’s conception of the LuSEE-Night radio astronomy experiment on the Moon (credit: Nasa/Tricia Talbert)</span>
</figcaption>
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<p>We should get an indication of the potential of these observations when NASA’s <a href="https://physics.berkeley.edu/news/lusee-night-will-attempt-first-its-kind-measurements-dark-ages-universe">LuSEE-Night mission</a> lands on the lunar far side in 2025 or 2026. </p>
<h2>Crater depths</h2>
<p>The Moon also offers opportunities for other types of astronomy as well. Astronomers have lots of experience with optical and infrared telescopes operating in free space, such as the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html">Hubble telescope</a> and <a href="https://webb.nasa.gov">JWST</a>. However, the stability of the lunar surface may confer advantages for these types of instrument.</p>
<p>Moreover, there are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanently_shadowed_crater">craters</a> at the lunar poles that receive no sunlight. Telescopes that observe the universe at infrared wavelengths are very sensitive to heat and therefore have to operate at low temperatures. JWST, for example, needs a huge sunshield to protect it from the sun’s rays. On the Moon, a natural crater rim could provide this shielding for free. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A permanently shadowed lunar crater" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520990/original/file-20230414-20-s56de3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520990/original/file-20230414-20-s56de3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520990/original/file-20230414-20-s56de3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520990/original/file-20230414-20-s56de3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520990/original/file-20230414-20-s56de3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520990/original/file-20230414-20-s56de3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520990/original/file-20230414-20-s56de3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles could eventually host infrared telescopes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/inside-dark-polar-moon-craters-water-not-as-invincible-as-expected-scientists-argue">LROC / ASU / NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Moon’s low gravity may also enable the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2019.0570">construction of much larger telescopes</a> than is feasible for free-flying satellites. These considerations have led the astronomer Jean-Pierre Maillard to suggest that the Moon may be the <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2020.0212">future of infrared astronomy</a>. </p>
<p>The cold, stable environment of permanently shadowed craters may also have advantages for the next generation of instruments to detect <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.07255">gravitational waves</a> – “ripples” in space-time caused by processes such as exploding stars and colliding black holes. </p>
<p>Moreover, for billions of years the Moon has been bombarded by charged particles from the sun – solar wind – and galactic cosmic rays. The lunar surface may contain a <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2019.0562">rich record of these processes</a>. Studying them could yield insights into the evolution of both the Sun and the Milky Way. </p>
<p>For all these reasons, astronomy stands to benefit from the current renaissance in lunar exploration. In particular, astronomy is likely to benefit from the infrastructure built up on the Moon as lunar exploration proceeds. This will include both transportation infrastructure – rockets, landers and other vehicles – to access the surface, as well as humans and robots on-site to construct and maintain astronomical instruments.</p>
<p>But there is also a tension here: human activities on the lunar far side may create unwanted radio interference, and plans to extract water-ice from shadowed craters might make it difficult for those same craters to be used for astronomy. As my colleagues and I recently <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.01363">argued</a>, we will need to ensure that lunar locations that are uniquely valuable for astronomy are protected in this new age of lunar exploration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Crawford is a member of the UK Space Agency's Space Exploration Advisory Committee (SEAC) and has advised the European Space Agency on lunar exploration policy. He is chair of COSPAR sub-commission B3 (Moon), and a member of the Moon Village Association which aims to foster international cooperation in lunar exploration. He was a co-organiser of the recent Royal Society meeting "Astronomy from the Moon."</span></em></p>The current race to the Moon is opening up opportunities for lunar astronomy.Ian Crawford, Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology, Birkbeck, University of London, Honorary Associate Professor, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2024892023-04-05T17:22:14Z2023-04-05T17:22:14ZAstronauts are returning to the Moon, but they won’t be repeating the Apollo missions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519231/original/file-20230404-18-aqpufb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C8%2C5816%2C5834&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From left to right: Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman (seated), Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen make up the Artemis II crew.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-astronauts-to-next-moon-mission-first-crew-under-artemis">Nasa</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If all goes to plan, sometime in November 2024, NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-astronauts-to-next-moon-mission-first-crew-under-artemis">newly announced Artemis II crew</a> – Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen – will cram themselves into their <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html">Orion space capsule</a> and begin their final checks for launch. </p>
<p>As they sit perched atop the gargantuan <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/fs/sls.html">Space Launch System (SLS) rocket</a> at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, waiting for the inferno beneath them to light, the world will hold its breath. </p>
<p>Should they survive the violence of that ignition and the journey into Earth orbit, an adventure the likes of which we haven’t seen in more than half a century will await them. </p>
<p>The booster stage aboard their ship of exploration will rip them from Earth’s immediate vicinity and inject them onto a trajectory that will carry them to the Moon, hurtling into the void at more than 25,000mph. They will be travelling faster and further than any human since the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo17.html">Apollo 17 mission in 1972</a>. </p>
<p>NASA has drawn from a deep well of past experience and technologies for this mission; employing the same main engines and solid rocket booster technology that powered the space shuttle. </p>
<p>The space agency has made many improvements, learning the hard-won lessons of past catastrophe. SLS and Orion represent evolution rather than revolution. Nevertheless, there will be nothing routine about this flight.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Orion - artist's impression" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519297/original/file-20230404-1331-14454r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519297/original/file-20230404-1331-14454r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519297/original/file-20230404-1331-14454r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519297/original/file-20230404-1331-14454r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519297/original/file-20230404-1331-14454r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519297/original/file-20230404-1331-14454r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519297/original/file-20230404-1331-14454r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artemis astronauts will travel in the Orion spacecraft.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/engineers-refine-thermal-protection-system-for-orion-s-next-mission">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Risk is everywhere</h2>
<p>We know in theory how safe we expect Artemis II to be – all of those probabilities have been calculated carefully. But there is all too often a gulf between expectation and reality.</p>
<p>Life for astronauts aboard the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">International Space Station</a> is already replete with risk. But for the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-first-flight-with-crew-important-step-on-long-term-return-to-the-moon-missions-to">Artemis II</a> crew there will be additional dangers. In the face of an emergency, space station crews orbiting at an altitude of around 250 miles can usually return to Earth in a matter of hours.</p>
<p>Rescue from deep space, possibly hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth, is a different prospect – as the crew of Apollo 13 <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo13.html">famously demonstrated</a> in 1970. </p>
<p>Radiation is also a substantial hazard. Astronauts operating in low-Earth orbit benefit from Earth’s dense magnetic field, or magnetosphere, which <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3105/earths-magnetosphere-protecting-our-planet-from-harmful-space-energy/">shields them</a> from harmful solar and cosmic radiation. For lunar missions, crews will venture beyond the protection of the magnetosphere, and will be more vulnerable to radiation exposure.</p>
<p>Solar flares in particular, which see short-lived but intense outpourings of highly energetic, charged particles, represent a powerful potential threat. If such an event should occur while Orion is coasting between the Earth and Moon, Artemis astronauts will <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/scientists-and-engineers-evaluate-orion-radiation-protection-plan">enter a well-protected area at the base of the spacecraft</a>, and wait there until the solar storm abates. </p>
<h2>A new confidence</h2>
<p>Despite all this, confidence is high. Apollo crews <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/livinginspace/27jan_solarflares.html">faced the same risks</a> when space engineering and technology were in their infancy – in capsules that featured no comparable shelter against radiation. </p>
<p>We know from those audacious missions that the “new ocean of space” – as President John F Kennedy once called it – can be sailed successfully and safely. There is every expectation that one day soon the Artemis II crew might do the same.</p>
<p>Artemis II is a pathfinder mission, set to orbit the Moon without landing. It will pave the way for subsequent expeditions, including the first return to the lunar surface since the 1970s, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-iii">Artemis III</a>, which is slated for 2025. No one knows if these timelines can be adhered to. This <em>is</em> rocket science and the sheer complexity of the endeavour means that schedules can slip. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Artist's impression of an astronaut on the Moon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519535/original/file-20230405-18-n713n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519535/original/file-20230405-18-n713n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519535/original/file-20230405-18-n713n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519535/original/file-20230405-18-n713n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519535/original/file-20230405-18-n713n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519535/original/file-20230405-18-n713n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519535/original/file-20230405-18-n713n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artemis astronauts will eventually explore the surface.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/illustration-of-artemis-astronauts-on-the-moon">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what will follow is a comprehensive exploration of the lunar surface by astronaut crews, including a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis-iii-science-definition-report-12042020c.pdf">survey of the water ice</a> that’s apparently present in its polar regions. The intent is to do more than get in and out, leaving flags and footprints. </p>
<p>Artemis is about persisting in this environment, in an effort to establish a firmer foothold in the frontier of space. The lunar water ice is a potentially important resource in that regard: it could provide drinking water and – by separating out the hydrogen and oxygen contained in water molecules – the chemical ingredients for rocket propellant. </p>
<p>Artemis II must come first. Despite exhaustive planning, this mission will be something of a leap of faith. After the astronauts leave Earth, all who truly understand the scale of the challenge this crew faces will wait with bated breath until they splash down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. Human spaceflight has always been this way. </p>
<h2>Reflecting change</h2>
<p>When Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman embarked upon their historic journey to become the first humans to orbit the Moon in 1968, <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_8/">aboard Apollo 8</a>, they left a world ravaged by war, a country facing civil unrest and the shadow of the political assassinations of Reverend Martin Luther King and Senator Robert Kennedy. The world has changed a great deal since then – how much it has improved is a matter for historians to debate. </p>
<p>Artemis II represents a feat of exploration and progress in scientific endeavour, and much more besides. Glover will be the first non-white astronaut, Hansen the first non-American and Koch the first female astronaut to depart low-Earth orbit and travel to the Moon. This of course is merely one small step, but the composition of the crew is testament to NASA’s commitment to diversity in this new era. </p>
<p>This aspect is every bit as important as the technical detail. When it comes to journeys into the unknown, NASA has often led the way, showing us what we might be at our best, demonstrating that there might be a place in the future for all of us.</p>
<p>When the crew of Artemis II arrives in lunar orbit, filming the magnificent desolation of the moonscape below, the world will watch in wonder. Those moments will undoubtedly fire the ambitions of a new generation of explorers and scientists, who will see themselves properly reflected in this diverse crew. In that alone, there is something deeply hopeful.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202489/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Fong receives funding from the Wellcome Trust as an Engagement and Innovation Fellow and is chair of Public Engagement and Innovation in the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy at University College London. He works and has worked for a variety of media production companies, creating audio and video content for broadcast. </span></em></p>The crew of Artemis II will face new and old challenges when they return to the Moon.Kevin Fong, Consultant Anaesthetist and Professor of Public Engagement and Innovation, Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2032142023-04-03T20:37:33Z2023-04-03T20:37:33ZMeet the next four people headed to the Moon – how the diverse crew of Artemis II shows NASA’s plan for the future of space exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519113/original/file-20230403-14-8kpwds.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=80%2C304%2C3950%2C3024&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a flyby of the Moon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/as11-44-6552.jpeg">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On April 3, 2023, <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-announces-crew-for-artemis-2-mission/">NASA announced</a> the four astronauts who will make up the crew of Artemis II, which is scheduled to launch in late 2024. The Artemis II mission will send these four astronauts on a 10-day mission that culminates in a flyby of the Moon. While they won’t head to the surface, they will be the first people to leave Earth’s immediate vicinity and be the first near the Moon in more than 50 years. </p>
<p>This mission will test the technology and equipment that’s necessary for future lunar landings and is a significant step on NASA’s planned journey back to the surface of the Moon. As part of this next era in lunar and space exploration, NASA has outlined a few clear goals. The agency is hoping to <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/tech/science/space/artemis-1-scrubbed-launch/285-480cc9b4-ddbd-40f4-a1c1-192c1effe75d">inspire young people</a> to get interested in space, to make the broader Artemis program more economically and politically sustainable and, finally, to continue encouraging international collaboration on future missions. </p>
<p>From my perspective as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PxIOz7cAAAAJ&hl=en">space policy expert</a>, the four Artemis II astronauts fully embody these goals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four astronauts in orange space suits with their helmets off." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519114/original/file-20230403-16-y1n19n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crew members of the Artemis II mission are NASA astronauts Christina Hammock Koch, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-astronauts-to-next-moon-mission-first-crew-under-artemis">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who are the four astronauts?</h2>
<p>The four members of the Artemis II crew are highly experienced, with three of them having flown in space previously. The one rookie flying onboard is notably representing Canada, making this an international mission, as well.</p>
<p>The commander of the mission will be <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/g-reid-wiseman/biography">Reid Wiseman</a>, a naval aviator and test pilot. On his previous mission to the International Space Station, he spent 165 days in space and completed a record of 82 hours of experiments in just one week. Wiseman was also the chief of the U.S. astronaut office from 2020 to 2023.</p>
<p>Serving as pilot is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-team/">Victor Glover</a>. After flying more than 3,000 hours in more than 40 different aircraft, Glover was selected for the astronaut corps in 2013. He was the pilot for the Crew-1 mission, the first mission that used a SpaceX rocket and capsule to bring astronauts to the International Space Station, and served as a flight engineer on the ISS.</p>
<p>The lone woman on the crew is mission specialist <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-hammock-koch/biography">Christina Hammock Koch</a>. She has spent 328 days in space, more than any other woman, across the three ISS expeditions. She has also participated in six different spacewalks, including the first three all-women spacewalks. Koch is an engineer by trade, having previously worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.</p>
<p>The crew will be <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadian-astronaut-jeremy-hansen-will-be-among-the-next-humans-to-fly-to-the-moon-201633">rounded out by a Canadian</a>, <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/active/bio-jeremy-hansen.asp">Jeremy Hansen</a>. Though a spaceflight rookie, he has participated in space simulations like <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NEEMO/index.html">NEEMO 19</a>, in which he lived in a facility on the ocean floor to simulate deep space exploration. Before being selected to Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009, he was an F-18 pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force.</p>
<p>These four astronauts have followed pretty typical paths to space. Like the Apollo astronauts, three of them began their careers as military pilots. Two, Wiseman and Glover, were trained test pilots, just as most of the Apollo astronauts were. </p>
<p>Mission specialist Koch, with her engineering expertise, is more typical of modern astronauts. The position of <a href="https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/AUPress/Book-Reviews/Display/Article/1869653/come-fly-with-us-nasas-payload-specialist-program/">mission or payload specialist</a> was created for the space shuttle program, making spaceflight possible for those with more scientific backgrounds.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An artist's impression of a spacecraft flying over the surface of the Moon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519116/original/file-20230403-22-qw7kfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The crew will make a single flyby of the Moon in an Orion capsule.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasaorion/32125696615/">NASA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A collaborative, diverse future</h2>
<p>Unlike the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s, with Artemis, NASA has placed a heavy emphasis on building a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/science/nasa-launch-artemis-1.html">politically sustainable lunar program</a> by fostering the participation of a diverse group of people and countries.</p>
<p>The participation of other countries in NASA missions – Canada in this case – <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/03/24/remarks-by-president-biden-and-prime-minister-trudeau-at-gala-dinner/">is particularly important</a> for the Artemis program and the Artemis II crew. International collaboration is beneficial for a number of reasons. First, it allows NASA to lean on the strengths and expertise of engineers, researchers and space agencies of U.S. allies and divide up the production of technologies and costs. It also helps the U.S. continue to provide international leadership in space as <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasas-head-warned-that-china-may-try-to-claim-the-moon-two-space-scholars-explain-why-thats-unlikely-to-happen-186614">competition with other countries</a> – notably China – heats up. </p>
<p>The crew of Artemis II is also quite diverse compared with the Apollo astronauts. NASA has often pointed out that the Artemis program will send the first woman and the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">first person of color to the Moon</a>. With Koch and Glover on board, Artemis II is the first step in fulfilling that promise and moving toward the goal of inspiring future generations of space explorers.</p>
<p>The four astronauts aboard Artemis II will be the first humans to return to the vicinity of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo-17/">the Moon since 1972</a>. The flyby will take the Orion capsule in one pass around the far side of the Moon. During the flight, the crew will monitor the spacecraft and test a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/opticalcommunications/o2o/">new communication system</a> that will allow them to send more data and communicate more easily with Earth than previous systems.</p>
<p>If all goes according to plan, in late 2025 Artemis III will mark humanity’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-iii/">return to the lunar surface</a>, this time also with a diverse crew. While the Artemis program still has a way to go before humans set foot on the Moon once again, the announcement of the Artemis II crew shows how NASA intends to get there in a diverse and collaborative way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203214/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Whitman Cobb is affiliated with the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Her views are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or any of its components.</span></em></p>The Artemis II mission is scheduled for launch in late 2024 and is a critical step towards NASA’s goals of establishing a permanent human presence on and near the Moon.Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2016332023-04-03T15:24:30Z2023-04-03T15:24:30ZCanadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will be among the next humans to fly to the moon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517674/original/file-20230327-962-ualse4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C1422%2C803&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's conception of the Artemis spacecraft orbiting the moon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_artemis.html">(NASA)</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadian-astronaut-jeremy-hansen-will-be-among-the-next-humans-to-fly-to-the-moon" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>On April 3, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-names-astronauts-to-next-moon-mission-first-crew-under-artemis">NASA announced the crew for Artemis II</a>, which will see astronauts spending up to three weeks on a flyby trip to the moon in 2024. This mission will be the first time in more than 50 years that humans will visit the moon — or leave low Earth orbit — <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo17.html">since Apollo 17 in 1972</a>. And a Canadian will be onboard this milestone mission: astronaut Jeremy Hansen.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mua1Lysc_JQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">NASA announces the astronauts on the Artemis II mission.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I am <a href="https://www.spacerocks.ca/">a professor, an explorer and a planetary geologist</a>. For the past decade, I have been helping to train astronauts from Canada and the United States in geology, including Hansen. I am also the principal investigator for the <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/first-canadian-rover-to-explore-the-moon.asp">Canadian Lunar Rover Mission</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-space-technology-and-innovations-are-a-crucial-contribution-to-the-artemis-missions-196328">Canada's space technology and innovations are a crucial contribution to the Artemis missions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Building on the success of Artemis I</h2>
<p>Following the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-i/">success of Artemis I in late 2022</a>, Artemis II is the next mission in the Artemis program — <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii">and the precursor to sending humans back to the surface of the moon</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C960&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a rocket in space with the moon and the Earth in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1280%2C960&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517662/original/file-20230327-20-xofw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Orion has travelled farther than any other spacecraft built for humans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/art001e000672">(NASA/JSC)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scheduled to launch in late 2024, Artemis II will achieve several firsts: it will be the first time <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/about/index.html">humans will fly in NASA’s Orion spacecraft</a> and the first mission to take humans beyond low Earth orbit since <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/apollo-missions/apollo-17">Apollo 17 in 1972</a>.</p>
<p>After the launch of Artemis II, the four astronauts will spend a few days in a high Earth orbit, <a href="https://www.space.com/16748-international-space-station.html">which is over 30,000 kilometres farther out than the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS)</a>. There, they will check out all the systems before the Orion spacecraft fires its main engine to take it to the moon for a flyby before returning to Earth.</p>
<p>While not identical in design, Artemis II aims to achieve <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/12/21/679282476/1968-when-apollo-8-first-orbited-the-moon-and-saw-the-earth-rise-in-space">what Apollo 8 did in 1968</a>, which is to make sure everything works in preparation for Artemis III, which will take humans back to the surface of the moon.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The official NASA broadcast of the launch of the uncrewed Orion spacecraft on Nov. 16, 2022.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Canadian circling the moon</h2>
<p>For many of us, the very fact that the Artemis II crew has been announced is exciting enough as it brings us one step closer to the return of humans to the moon. </p>
<p>But for Canada, this will go down as one of the biggest moments in our space program’s history: onboard this mission will be Canadian astronaut, <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/active/bio-jeremy-hansen.asp">Jeremy Hansen</a>. This will make Canada only the second country in the world, after the U.S., to send a human to deep space.</p>
<p>Col. Hansen was born in London, Ont., and raised on a farm a few kilometres north. After graduating from high school, he attended the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, where he earned a bachelor of science in space science and then a master of science in physics. He then joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994 where he became a CF-18 fighter pilot. </p>
<p>In 2009, Hansen was <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/how-to-become-an-astronaut/2009-recruitment-campaign.asp">one of two recruits selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)</a>. The other was David Saint-Jacques, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/david-saint-jacques">who spent six months onboard the ISS in 2008-09</a>. </p>
<p>Not only will Hansen be the first ever Canadian to venture into deep space, he will be doing so on his first ever spaceflight!</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/89EVrCiO0Os?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Canadian Space Agency profiles Jeremy Hansen.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Canadian technology</h2>
<p>These are exciting times for Canada in terms of lunar exploration. As announced in November last year, the <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/first-canadian-rover-to-explore-the-moon.asp">Canadian Lunar Rover Mission</a> will be the first ever Canadian-led mission to the surface of another planetary body. </p>
<p>With a launch planned for 2026, <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/moon-exploration/first-canadian-rover-to-explore-the-moon.asp">our team</a> is making significant progress towards finalizing the design of the rover and its scientific instruments. We are also identifying a shortlist of potential landing sites around the South Pole of the moon.</p>
<p>We won’t have to wait three years, however, for the first Canadian technology to reach the lunar surface. </p>
<p>Just last week, <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/m1">the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 spacecraft</a> successfully went into orbit around the moon after 100 days in space. Onboard the lunar lander scheduled for touchdown in late April are two Canadian <a href="https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/payload.html">payloads</a> funded by the CSA’s <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/funding-programs/programs/leap/">Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program</a>: the MoonNet deep learning software from <a href="https://www.missioncontrolspaceservices.com/">Mission Control Space Services</a> in Ottawa, and an AI-enabled 360-degree camera from <a href="https://www.canadensys.com/">Canadensys Aerospace</a>, based in Bolton, Ont.</p>
<p>In case you missed it, the CSA received funding for the next phase of the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program in the recent <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/news/articles/2023/2023-03-29-significant-investments-to-further-propel-canadian-space-exploration.asp">federal budget</a>, ensuring that these opportunities for Canadian companies and universities to send technologies to the moon will continue. </p>
<p>In another budget surprise, the government also committed $1.2 billion over 13 years to develop a <a href="https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/news/articles/2023/2023-03-29-significant-investments-to-further-propel-canadian-space-exploration.asp">lunar utility vehicle</a> to assist astronauts on the moon.</p>
<h2>Lunar research, terrestrial benefits</h2>
<p>As we wait for Artemis II, space agencies are focusing research on how to sustain human presence on the lunar surface. To do so will require innovative solutions to keep astronauts alive and healthy on the lunar surface for up to months at a time. </p>
<p>The surface of the moon is far more extreme than Earth, with no atmosphere and temperatures dropping to a staggering -200 C. However, there are some similarities that remote, isolated communities here on Earth face on a day-to-day basis, particularly in northern Canada.</p>
<p>A major part of keeping astronauts healthy is feeding them. Of course, they could survive on vacuum-sealed meals brought from Earth, but in the long run, this is not sustainable. </p>
<p>Recognizing the similarities of producing food in remote and harsh environments both here on Earth and in space, NASA and the CSA launched the <a href="https://www.deepspacefoodchallenge.org/">Deep Space Food Challenge</a> to develop new innovative food production technologies. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1230930497641029633"}"></div></p>
<p>The hope is that by figuring out how to grow food on the moon, the technologies can also be used here on Earth to address growing food shortages.</p>
<p>Now that the Artemis II crew has been announced, they will be spending every minute of their available time preparing for the mission. For Hansen, this will entail learning the hundreds of different systems on the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html">Orion spacecraft</a>. </p>
<p>Hopefully, it will also include a geology refresher so that he can better understand what he sees as he flies around the moon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon Osinski receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Space Agency.</span></em></p>Canadian Jeremy Hansen will be one of the next astronauts on the Artemis II mission. This announcement signals a new era in Canada’s role in space exploration.Gordon Osinski, Professor in Earth and Planetary Science, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1974102023-01-15T19:00:44Z2023-01-15T19:00:44ZThey say we know more about the Moon than about the deep sea. They’re wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504341/original/file-20230112-21-7zgk62.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C15%2C2580%2C1924&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Jamieson</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>We know more about the Moon than the deep sea.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This idea has been repeated for decades by <a href="https://www.minderoo.org/deep-sea-research/news/launch-of-minderoo-uwa-deep-sea-research-centre-reveals-the-world-in-the-deep-east-indian-ocean/">scientists and science communicators</a>, including Sir David Attenborough in the 2001 documentary series <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Planet">The Blue Planet</a>. More recently, in Blue Planet II (2017) and other sources, the Moon is replaced with Mars.</p>
<p>As deep-sea scientists, we investigated this supposed “fact” and found it has no scientific basis. It is <a href="https://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/78/3/797/6042988">not true in any quantifiable way</a>. </p>
<p>So where does this curious idea come from?</p>
<h2>Mapping the deep</h2>
<p>The earliest written record is in <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-navigation/article/abs/exploration-of-the-deep-sea/E1C7BCDB586128FA188841503E160379">a 1954 article</a> in the Journal of Navigation, in which oceanographer and chemist George Deacon refers to a claim by geophysicist Edward Bullard. </p>
<p>A 1957 <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41366206">paper</a> published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts states: “the deep oceans cover over two-thirds of the surface of the world, and yet more is known about the shape of the surface of the moon than is known about that of the bottom of the ocean”. This refers specifically to the scant amount of data available on the topography of the sea floor and predates both the first crewed descent to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench (1960), and the first Moon landing (1969). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/just-how-little-do-we-know-about-the-ocean-floor-32751">Just how little do we know about the ocean floor?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This quote also predates the practice of using ship-mounted echo-sounders to map the sea floor from acoustic data, known as <a href="https://www.hydro-international.com/content/article/a-note-on-fifty-years-of-multi-beam">swathe bathymetry</a>. </p>
<p>Almost a quarter of the world’s sea floor (<a href="https://seabed2030.org/news/seabed-2030-announces-increase-ocean-data-equating-size-europe-and-major-new-partnership-un">23.4%</a>, to be precise) has been mapped to a high resolution. This amounts to about 120 million square kilometres, or about three times the Moon’s total surface area. This may be why the comparison has shifted to Mars, which has a surface area of 145 million square kilometres. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An image of the western half of the Pacific Ocean, showing sea floor depths in different shades of blue." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504343/original/file-20230112-14-4glul5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504343/original/file-20230112-14-4glul5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504343/original/file-20230112-14-4glul5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504343/original/file-20230112-14-4glul5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504343/original/file-20230112-14-4glul5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504343/original/file-20230112-14-4glul5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504343/original/file-20230112-14-4glul5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=653&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Almost a quarter of the world’s seafloor has been mapped in detail.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gebco.net/data_and_products/imagery/">GEBCO</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What’s more, high-resolution maps do not constitute the <a href="https://theconversation.com/just-how-little-do-we-know-about-the-ocean-floor-32751">total sum of knowledge</a>. The deep ocean must be considered in three dimensions – and, unlike the Moon, it is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534709002997">diverse and dynamic ecosystem</a>.</p>
<h2>A surprising number of visitors</h2>
<p>Another related and incorrect comparison is that more people have set foot on the Moon than have visited the deepest place on Earth. </p>
<p>This statement is difficult to substantiate. “The deepest place on Earth” could refer to the Mariana Trench, or just the deepest part of it (the Challenger Deep, named for the British survey ship HMS Challenger). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo of a submarine with a round protrusion on the bottom, hanging in the air from a hoist." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504345/original/file-20230112-16-uuivvm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The bathyscaphe Trieste was the first crewed vessel to reach Challenger Deep, in 1960.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_Deep#/media/File:Bathyscaphe_Trieste.jpg">US Navy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nevertheless, at least 27 and as many as 40 or more people have visited the Challenger Deep as of early 2023. On the other hand, only <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/890/who-has-walked-on-the-moon/">12 people have “set foot” on the Moon and 24 people have visited it</a>.</p>
<h2>Out of sight, out of mind</h2>
<p>So why do people keep saying we know more about the Moon or Mars than the deep sea?</p>
<p>It feels natural to compare the deep sea to space. Both are dark, scary and far away. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A photo of a full moon over the sea." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504346/original/file-20230112-15-tzonw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504346/original/file-20230112-15-tzonw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504346/original/file-20230112-15-tzonw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504346/original/file-20230112-15-tzonw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504346/original/file-20230112-15-tzonw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504346/original/file-20230112-15-tzonw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504346/original/file-20230112-15-tzonw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">We see the Moon all the time – but the depths of the ocean are much harder to imagine.</span>
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<p>But we can see the Moon very easily by simply looking up. By being able to see it, we accept an apparently glowing rock hanging in the sky more easily than that parts of the ocean are very deep. We can see the Moon wax and wane and we can experience the push and pull of the tides. </p>
<p>It feels like we know more about the Moon than the deep sea, because we are forced to accept its presence. It intrudes on our lives in a tangible way that the deep sea does not. </p>
<p>We don’t think much about the deep sea unless we’re watching a documentary or horror film, or perhaps reading about some “horrific alien-like monster” dredged up by a deep-sea trawler.</p>
<h2>A useful analogy</h2>
<p>Because the deep sea is so physically inaccessible, comparing it to space may offer a useful analogy for an otherwise difficult-to-imagine ecosystem. But <a href="https://youtu.be/Mu0cjWof2ug">some deep-sea scientists</a> argue that the persistent estrangement of the deep sea minimises the vast amount of research about it that has emerged in recent decades. </p>
<p>Deep-sea biology is relentlessly referred to as a discipline that knows less about its own field of study than a relatively small, barren rock devoid of atmosphere, water and life. And yet this self-deprecating line is repeated by scientists themselves, who may find that highlighting the deficit of knowledge about the deep sea helps to promote the need for ocean research.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the idea we know more about the Moon than the deep sea is at best about 70 years out of date. We know much more about the deep sea – but there is even more left to be known.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/final-frontiers-the-deep-sea-13270">Final frontiers: the deep sea</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Prema Arasu receives funding from Inkfish.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Jamieson receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation and Inkfish.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Linley works for Armatus Oceanic Ltd. He is affiliated with The Deep-Sea Podcast. </span></em></p>The idea we know more about the Moon than the deep sea is seductive – but it’s 70 years out of date.Prema Arasu, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Western AustraliaAlan Jamieson, Senior Lecturer in Marine Ecology, Newcastle UniversityThomas Linley, Research Associate, Marine Ecology, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1897732022-09-02T04:33:49Z2022-09-02T04:33:49ZIt’s not just rocket science – hidden chemistry powers Moon launches and sustains life in space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482403/original/file-20220901-18546-nvzklt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C921%2C3290%2C2142&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacex/52034641806/">SpaceX</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many around the world will watch eagerly this Saturday <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-is-launching-the-1st-stage-of-the-artemis-mission-heres-why-humans-are-going-back-to-the-moon-189137">as NASA launches Artemis I</a>, the agency’s first Moon exploration mission since the 1970s.</p>
<p>The spectacle involves the most powerful rocket in the world: the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/fs/sls.html">Space Launch System (SLS)</a>. Standing at nearly 100 metres tall and weighing more than 2,600 tonnes, the SLS produces a massive 8.8 million pounds of thrust – (<a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/constellation/SLS_AtAGlance_NP-2015-09-83-MSFC.pdf">more than 31 times the thrust of a Boeing 747 jet</a>).</p>
<p>But it’s not just amazing engineering that’s behind rocket science and space exploration. Hidden within, there’s clever chemistry that powers these fantastic feats and sustains our fragile life in space.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-is-launching-the-1st-stage-of-the-artemis-mission-heres-why-humans-are-going-back-to-the-moon-189137">NASA is launching the 1st stage of the Artemis mission – here's why humans are going back to the Moon</a>
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<h2>The fuel and the spark</h2>
<p>To launch a rocket into space, we need a chemical reaction known as combustion. This is where fuels are combined with oxygen, producing energy as a result. In turn, that energy provides the push (or thrust) needed to propel mammoth machines like the SLS into Earth’s upper atmosphere and beyond.</p>
<p>Much like cars on the road and jets in the sky, rockets have engines where combustion takes place. SLS has two engine systems: four core stage <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/fs/rs25_core_stage_engines.html">RS-25 engines</a> (upgraded space shuttle engines) and two <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_SRB_prt.htm">solid rocket boosters</a>. And chemistry is what provides a unique fuel mixture for each engine.</p>
<p>The core stage engines use a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, whereas the solid rocket boosters, as the name suggests, contain a solid propellant – a hard, rubber-like material called polybutadiene acrylonitrile. In addition to being fuel itself, this material contains fine particles of aluminium metal as fuel, with ammonium perchlorate as the oxygen source.</p>
<p>While fuel for the solid rocket boosters is easily stored at room temperature, the core stage engine fuels need to be stored at -253°C for liquid hydrogen and -183°C for liquid oxygen. That’s why you see sheets of ice shearing off rockets upon liftoff – the fuel vessels are so cold, they freeze moisture from the surrounding air.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1244612878499483650"}"></div></p>
<p>But there’s another bit of interesting chemistry that happens when we need to light the fuel. Depending on the fuel source, rockets can be ignited electrically through a glorified spark plug… or chemically.</p>
<p>If you’ve ever watched a space launch and heard talk about “TEA-TEB ignition”, that’s referring to <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/J2X/tag/ignition/">triethylaluminium and triethylborane</a>. These two chemicals are pyrophoric – meaning they can catch fire spontaneously when exposed to air. </p>
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<h2>Sustaining life amongst the stars</h2>
<p>It’s not just rockets that are fuelled by chemistry. Life support systems in space rely on chemical processes keeping our astronauts alive and breathing – something we on Earth often take for granted.</p>
<p>We all know the importance of oxygen, but we also exhale carbon dioxide as a toxic waste product when we breathe. So, what happens to carbon dioxide in the sealed environment of a space capsule like the ones in the Apollo Moon missions or on the International Space Station (ISS)?</p>
<p>Remember Tom Hanks trying to fit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry55--J4_VQ">a square peg into a round hole</a> in the movie Apollo 13? Those were carbon dioxide scrubbers that NASA used for removing this toxic gas from the interior of space capsules.</p>
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<p>These scrubbers are expendable filters packed with <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/lithium-hydroxide-canister-command-module-apollo-11/nasm_A19791599000">lithium hydroxide</a> (similar to a chemical you can find in drain-cleaning fluid) that capture carbon dioxide gas through simple <a href="https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/3019-acids-and-bases-introduction#:%7E:text=The%20chemical%20difference%20between%20acids,to%20water%20an%20alkaline%20solution.">acid-base chemistry</a>. While these scrubbers are highly efficient in removing carbon dioxide and allowing astronauts to breathe easy, the filters have a finite capacity. Once saturated, they are no longer effective.</p>
<p>So, for extended space missions, using lithium hydroxide filters is not feasible. Scientists later developed a system that uses a reusable carbon dioxide scrubber made with minerals called zeolites. With zeolite, the captured carbon dioxide can be released into space, and the filters are then free to capture more gas.</p>
<p>But in 2010, scientists found an even better way to manage carbon dioxide, by turning this waste product into another essential component to life: water.</p>
<h2>From waste to resource</h2>
<p>The Environmental Control and Life Support System on the ISS replaces carbon dioxide scrubbers with the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/sabatier.html">Carbon Dioxide Reduction System</a>, also known as the Sabatier system. It’s named after the chemical reaction central to its function, which in turn is named after its discoverer, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1912/sabatier/facts/">1912 Chemistry Nobel Prize</a> winner Paul Sabatier.</p>
<p>This system combines carbon dioxide with hydrogen gas to form water and methane. The methane gas is vented into space, and through a process called hydrolysis, the water is split into breathable oxygen and hydrogen gas. The latter is then recycled to transform more carbon dioxide into water.</p>
<p>This process is not just useful for space exploration. Closer to home, chemists are <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-019-0244-4">researching similar systems</a> to potentially address greenhouse gas emissions – while it’s no panacea, the Sabatier reaction could help us recycle some carbon dioxide here on Earth.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/">Artemis Moon mission aims</a> to land the first woman and person of colour on the Moon and establish a long-term human presence in a lunar base. The Sabatier reaction and other little-celebrated chemical processes will be key to humankind’s continued space endeavours.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-artemis-i-mission-marks-the-start-of-a-new-space-race-to-mine-the-moon-189536">The Artemis I mission marks the start of a new space race to mine the Moon</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Curtis Ho receives funding from the University of Tasmania.</span></em></p>Everyone celebrates the feats of engineering that go into space exploration – but without chemistry, astronauts wouldn’t even be able to breathe.Curtis Ho, Lecturer in Chemistry, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1895362022-09-01T20:03:02Z2022-09-01T20:03:02ZThe Artemis I mission marks the start of a new space race to mine the Moon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482172/original/file-20220831-20-5v7kda.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C13%2C1747%2C1081&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ202208170018">NASA / Joel Kowsky</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>NASA plans to launch the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1">Artemis I lunar mission</a> this Saturday, September 3, after a first attempt earlier in the week was <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/29/world/nasa-artemis-1-launch-scn/index.html">cancelled at the last minute</a> due to engine trouble. </p>
<p>The mission is an exciting step towards returning humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972. But this time it’s not just about putting our footprints on lunar dust: it marks the beginning of a new space race for lunar resources. This time around, everybody wants to mine the Moon.</p>
<h2>Return to the Moon</h2>
<p>Much about the Artemis program is noble and inspiring.</p>
<p>Artemis I is the program’s first mission, and it will carry out a 42-day uncrewed test flight to orbit the Moon and return to Earth. The trip will use a new launch vehicle, the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html">Space Launch System (SLS)</a>, which is the most powerful rocket currently operational in the world. </p>
<p>On board will be three mannequins made of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/27/1119817113/artemis-1-launch-what-is-on-board-snoopy-manikins">materials replicating male and female biology</a>. NASA will use the mannequins to test the comfort and safety of the launch vehicle and spaceflight capsule for humans. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-is-launching-the-1st-stage-of-the-artemis-mission-heres-why-humans-are-going-back-to-the-moon-189137">NASA is launching the 1st stage of the Artemis mission – here's why humans are going back to the Moon</a>
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<p>There are also many other experiments on board, and a series of small satellites will be launched to provide data when the capsule nears the Moon. </p>
<p>The lessons from this mission will be applied to Artemis II, the <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/nasa-artemis-people-of-color-woman-moon/">mission planned for 2024</a> that will see the first woman and the first person of colour reach the Moon.</p>
<h2>A new space race?</h2>
<p>However, humanity’s return to the Moon is not all about exploration and the pursuit of knowledge. Just as the 1960s space race was driven by Cold War geopolitics, today’s space programs are underpinned by today’s geopolitics. </p>
<p>Artemis is led by the US, with participation by the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion/Artemis_II">European Space Agency</a> and many other friendly nations including Australia.</p>
<p>China and Russia are collaborating on their own <a href="https://www.space.com/china-russia-international-lunar-research-station">Moon program</a>. They plan to land humans in 2026 and construct a Moon base by 2035.</p>
<p>India too is working on robotic Moon landers and a <a href="https://www.space.com/india-moon-lander-crewed-spaceflight-progress">lunar spaceflight program</a>. The UAE plans to launch a lunar lander in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/07/20/uaes-moon-mission-on-track-for-launch-attempt-in-november/">November this year</a> as well. </p>
<p>All of these programs are aiming to do more than simply land astronauts for brief visits to the Moon. The longer-term goal of the race is to acquire lunar resources.</p>
<h2>Resources on the Moon</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/cool-discovery-new-studies-confirm-moon-has-icy-poles-148639">Water ice</a> has been found in the southern regions of the Moon, and it is hoped certain gases that can be used for fuels can also be mined. </p>
<p>These resources could be used to support long-term human habitation on and near the Moon in lunar bases, as well as permanent space stations orbiting the Moon, such as NASA’s planned <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/gateway">Gateway</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-moons-top-layer-alone-has-enough-oxygen-to-sustain-8-billion-people-for-100-000-years-170013">The Moon's top layer alone has enough oxygen to sustain 8 billion people for 100,000 years</a>
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<p>The Australian Space Agency is <a href="https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/moon-to-mars-trailblazer">supporting Australian industry</a> to be part of the Artemis program and America’s planned later voyages to Mars. Australian scientists are also developing <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-putting-a-rover-on-the-moon-in-2024-to-search-for-water-170097">lunar rovers</a> to assist lunar mining efforts.</p>
<p>Eventually, what we learn on the Moon will be used to advance to Mars. But, in the near term, the countries and associated commercial entities that get to the best mining sites first will dominate an emerging lunar economy and lunar politics. </p>
<h2>What are the rules?</h2>
<p>In the next five years or so we can expect to see enormous political tensions rising around this new race to the Moon. </p>
<p>One question that is yet to be answered: what laws will govern activities on the Moon?</p>
<p>The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits appropriation in space “<a href="https://www.unoosa.org/pdf/gares/ARES_21_2222E.pdf">by claims of sovereignty, occupation or by any other means</a>”. It is so far unclear whether mining or other forms of resource extraction fall under this prohibition. </p>
<p>The United Nations has a <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/lsc/space-resources/index.html">working group</a> that aims to develop a multilateral consensus on legal aspects of space resource activities. </p>
<p>However, in 2020 the US got out in front of the UN process by establishing the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html">Artemis Accords</a>, which state that resource extraction will occur and is lawful. <a href="https://www.state.gov/france-becomes-twentieth-nation-to-sign-the-artemis-accords/">Twenty-one countries</a>, including Australia, have signed these accords with the US, but they are far from universally accepted.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/giant-leap-for-corporations-the-trump-administration-wants-to-mine-resources-in-space-but-is-it-legal-136395">Giant leap for corporations? The Trump administration wants to mine resources in space, but is it legal?</a>
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<p>Another relevant treaty is the 1979 Moon Agreement, signed by 18 countries including Australia. This agreement states that no entity can own any part of the Moon, and obliges us to establish a regulatory regime for lunar mining “<a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/intromoon-agreement.html">at such a time as the technology is about to become feasible</a>”. </p>
<p>Australia is therefore between a lunar rock and a hard place as to what role we will play in developing these new laws. But international law-making and consensus-building are slow: most likely actual practice will be established in the next few years, and decisions on how to govern it will come after the fact.</p>
<h2>Technical and political challenges</h2>
<p>There is some poetic perfection in NASA having chosen the name “Artemis” for this new lunar endeavour. Artemis is the Greek goddess of the Moon, and the twin sister of Apollo (the namesake of NASA’s 1960s Moon spaceflight program). </p>
<p>Artemis declared <a href="https://www.ancient-literature.com/artemis-personality/#She_asked_and_was_granted_six_things_of_Zeus">she never wanted to be married</a> because she didn’t want to become the property of any man. </p>
<p>Even if ownership of the Moon cannot be claimed, we will see competition over whether parts of it can be mined. No doubt scientists and engineers will resolve the technical challenges of the return to the Moon. Resolving the legal and political challenges may prove more difficult.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-the-moon-be-a-person-as-lunar-mining-looms-a-change-of-perspective-could-protect-earths-ancient-companion-144848">Can the Moon be a person? As lunar mining looms, a change of perspective could protect Earth's ancient companion</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189536/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Steer receives funding from Geoscience Australia and the Department of Defence. In the past she has received funding from DFAT, and from the Canadian and US Departments of Defence. She is affiliated with the Space Industry Association of Australia, and is the co-founder of the Australian Centre for Space Governance.</span></em></p>Lunar mining and geopolitical squabbles are set to play key roles in humanity’s return to the Moon.Cassandra Steer, Deputy Director, Institute for Space (InSpace), Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1758342022-01-28T01:24:01Z2022-01-28T01:24:01ZA rogue rocket is on course to crash into the Moon. It won’t be the first<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442886/original/file-20220127-18-1gu5b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C2392%2C1767&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/depiction-of-man-in-the-moon-with-a-rocket-in-his-eye-from-news-photo/517203948">Bettmann / Contributor</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a few weeks’ time, a rocket launched in 2015 is expected to crash into the Moon. The fast-moving piece of space junk is the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which hoisted the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite off our planet. It has been chaotically looping around Earth and the Moon ever since. </p>
<p>Asteroid-hunter Bill Gray has been keeping tabs on the 4-tonne booster since its launch. This month he realised his orbit-tracking software <a href="https://www.projectpluto.com/temp/dscovr.htm">projected the booster will slam into the lunar surface on March 4</a>, moving at more than 9,000 kilometres per hour. </p>
<p>The booster is tumbling wildly as it travels, which adds some uncertainty to the timing and location of the predicted impact. It is likely to occur on the far side of the Moon, so it won’t be visible from Earth.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1486057487027646466"}"></div></p>
<p>Some astronomers say the collision is “not a big deal”, but to a space archaeologist like me it’s quite exciting. It will be the Moon’s newest archaeological site, joining more than 100 other locations that document human activity on the Moon and in <a href="https://thespaceoption.com/portfolio/cislunar-space/">cislunar space</a>.</p>
<h2>A history of crash landing on the Moon</h2>
<p>The impact will leave a new crater on the dark side of the Moon. </p>
<p>The very first human-made artefact to make contact with the Moon was the Soviet Luna 2 in 1959 - an extraordinary feat, as it was only two years after the launch of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite.</p>
<p>The mission consisted of a rocket, a probe, and three “bombs”. One released a cloud of sodium gas to enable the crash to be seen from Earth. The USSR didn’t want the groundbreaking mission to be called a hoax.</p>
<p>The other two “bombs” were spheres of pentagonal medallions inscribed with the date and Soviet symbols. If they exploded as planned, they would have scattered 144 medallions over the lunar surface. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tardigrades-were-now-polluting-the-moon-with-near-indestructible-little-creatures-121602">Tardigrades: we're now polluting the moon with near indestructible little creatures</a>
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<p>Other crashes have been missions gone wrong, like the Israeli Beresheet lander in 2019. This was especially controversial as the lander carried a secret cargo of dried tardigrades, tiny creatures that could be revived in the presence of water.</p>
<p>Various spacecraft have naturally decayed and fallen out of orbit, like the Japanese relay satellite Okina in 2009. Others have been intentionally crashed at the end of their mission life.</p>
<p>The NASA Ebb and Flow spacecraft <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasa-crashes-space-junk-into-the-moon-to-save-lunar-heritage-sites-11404">were deliberately crashed</a> into the lunar south pole in 2012, specifically to avoid any risk of damaging the Apollo landing sites. Impacting at a speed of 6,000km per hour, they left craters 6 metres across.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442884/original/file-20220127-26-hgyyid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442884/original/file-20220127-26-hgyyid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442884/original/file-20220127-26-hgyyid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442884/original/file-20220127-26-hgyyid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442884/original/file-20220127-26-hgyyid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442884/original/file-20220127-26-hgyyid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442884/original/file-20220127-26-hgyyid.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The upper images show the landscape before impact and the lower images show the craters and the dark ejecta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
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<p>Many crashes have been used to collect seismic data. Observations from the controlled impact of Saturn third-stage boosters and ascent modules from the Apollo missions were particularly valuable, as timing, location and impact energy were known.</p>
<h2>Environmental impacts</h2>
<p>The Falcon 9 rocket stage is significantly larger than the tiny Ebb and Flow spacecraft and is travelling faster. The crash will make a much larger crater, which will kick up chunks of rock and dust. On this airless world, the dust could travel a fair way before settling down. </p>
<p>The only other spacecraft on the Moon’s far side are the US Ranger 4 probe, which crashed in 1962, and China’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_4">Chang-e 4 lander and Yutu-2 rover</a>. Yutu-2 is still trundling along the lunar surface on its six wheels. </p>
<p>Yutu’s latest results show that “soil” on the far side <a href="https://gizmodo.com/the-moon-s-far-side-is-covered-in-sticky-soil-and-fresh-1848385460">may be stickier</a> than the near side, and there is a higher density of small craters. </p>
<p>The rocket stage could potentially cause damage to these historic spacecraft, if it lands on or near them. However, this is statistically unlikely. Current predictions have it landing in Hertzsprung crater, a long way from the Aitken basin where the Chinese spacecraft are operating.</p>
<p>Although there are no cameras to observe the crash, at some point NASA’s <a href="https://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov">Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter</a> is likely to pass over and image the impact point. </p>
<p>We’ll learn something about the geology of the location from the colour differences and distribution of the ejected material. It’s an opportunity to learn more about the Moon’s mysterious far side.</p>
<h2>Changing attitudes to space junk</h2>
<p>In the earlier Space Age, little thought was given to leaving what many call “trash” on the lunar surface.</p>
<p>The Moon is sometimes considered a “dead” world because it has no life. The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) Planetary Protection Policy does not require any special precautions for lunar activities.</p>
<p>But there is a growing awareness the Moon has distinct environmental values of its own. The <a href="https://www.earthlaws.org.au/moon-declaration/">Declaration of the Rights of the Moon</a>, created by a group of independent researchers, states the Moon has “the right to exist, persist and continue its vital cycles unaltered, unharmed and unpolluted by human beings”.</p>
<p>Canadian researchers Eytan Tepper and Christopher Whitehead have suggested the Moon could be protected by <a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/space.2018.0025">giving it legal personhood</a>, much like the Whanganui river in Aotearoa New Zealand.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-the-moon-be-a-person-as-lunar-mining-looms-a-change-of-perspective-could-protect-earths-ancient-companion-144848">Can the Moon be a person? As lunar mining looms, a change of perspective could protect Earth's ancient companion</a>
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<p>The Moon is struck by meteors all the time. In many ways, the Falcon 9 impact will be just another one. What makes it interesting is how it acts as a litmus test for changing public opinions about our responsibilities to the space environment. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1486335754326396941"}"></div></p>
<p>The public is looking for accountability from space agencies and private corporations. As plans for lunar mining and habitation accelerate, hopefully it’s a message that is ready to be heard.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175834/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Gorman is a Vice-Chair of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activity and a co-author of the Declaration of the Rights of the Moon.</span></em></p>When a hunk of space junk smashes into the Moon in a few weeks, it will join a long history of lunar collisions.Alice Gorman, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1729272021-12-06T14:21:50Z2021-12-06T14:21:50ZCurious Kids: why can’t we put a space station on the Moon?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435850/original/file-20211206-25-v816r9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C0%2C8075%2C4547&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We have only sent people to the Moon six times so far.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/astronaut-approaches-his-rover-space-base-1862726671">Design Projects/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Why can’t we put a space station on the Moon? – Ronak, aged 17, Jaipur, India</strong></p>
<p>A space station on the Moon could be very useful. It would provide future space missions with a stopping point between leaving the Earth and reaching further into the Solar System or even the Milky Way.</p>
<p>One reason we haven’t built a space station on the Moon is that we don’t send people there very often. We have only managed to put astronauts on the Moon six times so far. These Moon landings took place in a three-year period between 1969 and 1972 and were part of a series of space missions called the <a href="https://www.space.com/apollo-program-overview.html">Apollo missions</a>. </p>
<p>The type of rocket used to get the astronauts to the Moon was an extremely powerful one called a Saturn V, which is no longer produced. This means that, at the moment, we do not have a rocket powerful enough to get people to the Moon – let alone build a space station there.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_aAxALzVJYo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An example of a Saturn V rocket available to see at Houston Space Centre. It is a massive 111 metres in length.</span></figcaption>
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<p>We are starting to build powerful rockets again. Space exploration company <a href="https://www.spacex.com/">SpaceX</a> is creating newer and bigger rockets which are capable of taking the weight of astronauts to the Moon. Nasa is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2021/11/04/artemis-1-nasas-long-awaited-moon-mission-could-blast-off-in-100-days-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/?sh=319f648d4780">also planning</a> new missions to take astronauts to the Moon.</p>
<p>However, there is a big difference between a short trip and building a space station on the Moon, which is extremely difficult. One way to do it would be to build it in pieces on Earth, take the pieces to the Moon and assemble them there. This would be like how the <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/International_Space_Station/Building_the_International_Space_Station3">International Space Station</a> was built: pieces were taken into space and then put together by astronauts aboard the space shuttle. </p>
<p>However, the International Space Station is only 400km from the surface of the Earth. The Moon is 384,000km. Each trip to the Moon would take about three days and would require incredible amounts of fuel, <a href="https://theconversation.com/falcon-heavy-spacex-stages-an-amazing-launch-but-what-about-the-environmental-impact-91423">potentially adding</a> to climate problems on Earth.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a> is a series by <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk">The Conversation</a> that gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskids@theconversation.com">curiouskids@theconversation.com</a> and make sure you include the asker’s first name, age and town or city. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we’ll do our very best.</em></p>
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<p>A much better idea would be to build as much of the base as possible from materials found on the Moon. <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14977-astronauts-could-mix-diy-concrete-for-cheap-moon-base/">Lunar concrete</a> is being tested on Earth as a possible building material. </p>
<p>On Earth you would make concrete from gravel or sand, cement and water. We have none of those things on the Moon, but what we do have is lunar dust and sulphur. These can be melted and mixed together. Once this mixture cools it produces a solid material that is stronger than many materials we use on Earth.</p>
<h2>Food and power</h2>
<p>We also need to think about what astronauts staying at the space station would need. The most important things would be a food supply and electricity to power equipment, food production and breathable air. </p>
<p>Scientists have been working on how to grow food in space. On board the International Space Station, astronauts are carrying out experiments to try to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/growing-plants-in-space">grow vegetables</a> using soil pillows. Another option would be to grow plants <a href="https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/hydroponics">using hydroponics</a>, which means that the plants grow in water, not soil. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">What life on the Moon might be like – an interdisciplinary collaboration at Nottingham Trent University between the animation and physics departments.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Getting power on the Moon would be more complicated. The best way would be to use solar energy from the Sun. However, the Moon rotates every 28 days. This means that a space station in a fixed position on the Moon would be in the sun for 14 days and then darkness for 14 days – and without light, solar-powered equipment wouldn’t work without a big improvement in battery storage. </p>
<p>One way to get round this problem would be to build the space station at either the north or south pole of the Moon, and raise the solar panels above the surface. The panels would get constant sunlight as they can rotate and not be blocked by the planet at all. </p>
<p>Alternatively, we might not even need a base on the surface of the Moon at all. Instead, Nasa is planning to build a satellite to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/gateway/overview">orbit the moon</a>. Rockets launching from the lunar surface use more fuel to escape the Moon’s gravity, but this would not be so difficult from a satellite. This means it would be even better than a base on the Moon; a gateway for missions heading further into the Solar System.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172927/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Whittaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A space station on the Moon could be built out of lunar concrete.Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1700972021-11-03T19:07:36Z2021-11-03T19:07:36ZAustralia is putting a rover on the Moon in 2024 to search for water<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429881/original/file-20211103-13-g3sduq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C15%2C1495%2C613&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ispace</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last month the Australian Space Agency <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/oct/13/australia-to-build-20kg-rover-to-head-to-moon-in-joint-mission-with-nasa">announced</a> plans to send an Australian-made rover to the Moon by as early as 2026, under a deal with NASA. The rover will collect lunar soil containing oxygen, which could eventually be used to support human life in space. </p>
<p>Although the <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/australias-first-mission-moon">deal with NASA</a> made headlines, a separate mission conducted by private companies in Australia and Canada, in conjunction with the University of Technology Sydney, may see Australian technology hunting water on the Moon as soon as mid-2024.</p>
<p>If all goes according to plan, it will be the first rover with Australian-made components to make it to the Moon. </p>
<h2>Roving in search of water</h2>
<p>The ten-kilogram rover, measuring 60x60x50cm, will be launched on board the Hakuto lander made by <a href="https://ispace-inc.com/">ispace</a>, a lunar robotic exploration company based in Japan. </p>
<p>The rover itself, also built by ispace, will have an integrated robotic arm created by the private companies <a href="https://stardust-technologies.com/">Stardust Technologies</a> (based in Canada) and Australia’s <a href="https://www.explorespace.com.au/">EXPLOR Space Technology</a> (of which I am one of the founders).</p>
<p>Using cameras and sensors, the arm will collect high-resolution visual and haptic data to be sent back to the mission control centre at the University of Technology Sydney.</p>
<p>It will also collect information on the physical and chemical composition of lunar dust, soil and rocks — specifically with a goal of finding water. We know water is present within the Moon’s soil, but we have yet to find a way to extract it for practical use. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/water-on-the-moon-research-unveils-its-type-and-abundance-boosting-exploration-plans-148669">Water on the Moon: research unveils its type and abundance – boosting exploration plans</a>
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<p>The big push now is to identify regions on the Moon where water sources are more abundant, and which can deliver more usable water for human consumption, sample processing, mining operations and food growth.</p>
<p>This would also set the foundation for the establishment of a manned Moon base, which could serve as a transit station for further space exploration (including on Mars). </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429440/original/file-20211031-15910-fccea3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The ispace moon lander was displayed in Washington DC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy of Australian Embassy staff</span></span>
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<h2>Moon-grade materials</h2>
<p>Once the Hakuto lander takes off, the first challenge will be to ensure it lands successfully with the rover intact. The rover will have to survive an extreme environment on the lunar surface.</p>
<p>As the moon rotates relative to the Sun, it experiences day and night cycles, just like Earth. But one day on the Moon lasts 29.5 Earth days. And surface temperatures shift dramatically during this time, reaching up to 127°C during the day and falling as low as -173°C at night.</p>
<p>The rover and robotic arm will also need to withstand the effects of space radiation, vibrations during launch, shock from the launch and landing, and exposure to dust and water. </p>
<p>At the same time, the arm must be light enough to conduct advanced manoeuvres, such as grabbing and collecting moon rocks. Advanced space-grade aluminium developed in Australia will help protect it from damage. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/429443/original/file-20211031-15-1csuz38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The TechLab antenna chamber at the The University of Technology Sydney is being used to test communication signals which will be critical to this mission.</span>
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<p>The team behind the mission is currently in the process of testing different designs of the robotic arm, and figuring out the best way to integrate it with the rover. It will be tested together with the rover at a new lunar test bed, at the EXPLOR Space Technologies facility in New South Wales. </p>
<p>Like the one used by NASA, this test bed can mimic the physical and chemical conditions on the Moon. It will be critical to determining whether the rover can stay mobile and continue to function under different environmental stressors.</p>
<h2>Step into your astronaut boots</h2>
<p>The rover will also send back data that allows people on Earth to experience the Moon with virtual reality (VR) goggles and a sensor glove. Haptic data collected back by the robotic arm will essentially let us “feel” anything the arm touches on the lunar surface.</p>
<p>We plan to make the experience available as a free app — and hope it inspires future generations of space explorers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/so-a-helicopter-flew-on-mars-for-the-first-time-a-space-physicist-explains-why-thats-such-a-big-deal-159334">So a helicopter flew on Mars for the first time. A space physicist explains why that's such a big deal</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Chou is the co-founder of EXPLOR Space Technologies. </span></em></p>A 10kg rover, due to land on the Moon by 2024, will be fitted with an advanced robotic arm design and manufactured in Australia.Joshua Chou, Senior lecturer, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1664092021-08-23T00:36:08Z2021-08-23T00:36:08ZWe’re launching Western Australia’s first scratch-built satellite, and it’s a giant leap towards the Moon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417185/original/file-20210820-27-egkifp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C416%2C3010%2C2625&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Curtin University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On August 28, a SpaceX rocket will blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carrying supplies bound for the International Space Station. But also on board will be a small satellite that represents a giant leap into space for our research program here in Western Australia.</p>
<p>Our satellite, called <a href="https://www.binarspace.com/about-binar/">Binar-1</a> after the Noongar word for “fireball”, was designed and built from scratch by our team at Curtin University’s <a href="https://sstc.curtin.edu.au/">Space Science and Technology Centre</a>. </p>
<p>We chose this name for two reasons: to acknowledge the Wadjuk people of the Noongar Nation, and to recognise the relationship between our satellite program and Curtin’s <a href="https://dfn.gfo.rocks/">Desert Fireball Network</a>, which has successfully searched for meteorites in the Australian desert.</p>
<p>Binar-1 is a CubeSat — a type of small satellite made from <a href="https://www.cubesat.org/">10-centimetre cube-shaped modules</a>. Binar-1 consists of just one such module, meaning it’s technically a 1U CubeSat. </p>
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<img alt="Binar-1 CubeSat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417182/original/file-20210820-27-1h7jr2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2994&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417182/original/file-20210820-27-1h7jr2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417182/original/file-20210820-27-1h7jr2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417182/original/file-20210820-27-1h7jr2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417182/original/file-20210820-27-1h7jr2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417182/original/file-20210820-27-1h7jr2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417182/original/file-20210820-27-1h7jr2f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Binar-1 satellite is a 10cm cube.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Curtin University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-do-meteorites-come-from-we-tracked-hundreds-of-fireballs-streaking-through-the-sky-to-find-out-160096">Where do meteorites come from? We tracked hundreds of fireballs streaking through the sky to find out</a>
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<p>Its main objective is to prove the technology works in space, thereby taking a first step towards future missions in which we hope ultimately to send CubeSats to the Moon. </p>
<p>Binar-1 is equipped with two cameras, with two objectives: first, to photograph Western Australia from space, thus testing the performance of our instruments and hopefully also capturing the imagination of young WA students; and second, to image stars. The star camera will precisely determine which way the satellite is facing — a crucial capability for any future Moon mission. </p>
<h2>Bespoke build</h2>
<p>Our centre is the largest planetary research group in the southern hemisphere, and we participate in space missions with agencies like NASA and the European and Japanese space agencies. To understand the various planets and other bodies in the Solar System, we need to build spacecraft to visit them. But for most of the space age, the costs of building and launching this technology have been a major barrier to participation for most nations.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the rise of consumer electronics has produced smart phones that are significantly more capable than Apollo-era computers. Combined with new launch options, the cost of launching a small satellite is now within reach of research groups and start-ups. As a result, the market for “COTS” (consumer off-the-shelf) satellite components has boomed over the past decade. </p>
<p>Like other Australian research groups, we began our journey into space with a specific mission in mind: to build instruments that can observe flaming meteors from orbit. But we quickly found the cost of buying the satellite hardware repeatedly for multiple missions would be huge. </p>
<p>But then we realised our research group had an advantage: we already had prior experience building space observatories for the remote outback, such as the Desert Fireball Network. This expertise gave us a head start in developing our own satellites from scratch.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Binar-1 researchers and equipment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417188/original/file-20210820-21-11av6oz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417188/original/file-20210820-21-11av6oz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417188/original/file-20210820-21-11av6oz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417188/original/file-20210820-21-11av6oz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417188/original/file-20210820-21-11av6oz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417188/original/file-20210820-21-11av6oz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417188/original/file-20210820-21-11av6oz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Binar-1 team testing their satellite in a vacuum chamber.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Curtin University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Outback observatories and orbital satellites have a surprising amount in common. Both need to monitor the skies, and operate in harsh conditions. Both depend on solar power and have to function autonomously — in space, just like in the desert, nobody is out there to fix things on the fly. They both also experience intense vibration while travelling to their destination. It is up for debate whether rocket launches or corrugated outback roads make for a bumpier ride.</p>
<p>So in 2018, we set to work building a bespoke satellite. For the first two and half years, we made prototype circuit boards and tested them to their limits, refining our design with each version. The testing took place in our space environment lab where we have vacuum chambers, liquid nitrogen and shaker tables, to simulate the different space environments the satellite will experience.</p>
<p>Onboard the International Space Station astronauts will unload Binar-1 and deploy it from an airlock in the Japanese Kibo module. To begin with the satellite will maintain a similar orbit to the station, about 400 kilometres above Earth. At that altitude there is enough atmosphere to cause a tiny amount of drag that will eventually cause the satellite to fall into the thicker part of the atmosphere. </p>
<p>In the end it will become a fireball, like its namesake, and if we are extremely lucky we will catch images of it on one of our ground-based observatories. We expect this to happen after about 18 months, but this time frame can vary because of many factors, such as solar weather. For as long as we can, we will gather data to help refine future missions, and we have already begun to look at ways to collect data as the next satellites crash into the atmosphere.</p>
<h2>Jam-packed with cubesats</h2>
<p>Launching on the same rocket with Binar-1 will be <a href="https://www.cuava.com.au/projects/cuava-1/">CUAVA-1</a>, the first satellite built by the Australian Research Council’s CubeSat development program. But although the two satellites will share the same ride to space, their development paths have been completely different. </p>
<p>As was our original plan, the CUAVA team has focused on the development of instrument payloads, while buying navigation systems and other components from Dutch and Danish suppliers.</p>
<p>Our satellite was designed and built completely in-house, which means we can drive down costs by making multiple versions, while constantly testing and refining our hardware for future missions.</p>
<p>There are already six more 1U satellites scheduled in the Binar program, each representing a step towards our ultimate goal of a lunar mission.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Satellite testing equipment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417190/original/file-20210820-13-ujzb7m.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417190/original/file-20210820-13-ujzb7m.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417190/original/file-20210820-13-ujzb7m.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417190/original/file-20210820-13-ujzb7m.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417190/original/file-20210820-13-ujzb7m.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417190/original/file-20210820-13-ujzb7m.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/417190/original/file-20210820-13-ujzb7m.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Binar undergoing testing at the National Space Test Facility.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Curtin University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shooting for the Moon</h2>
<p>As part of the Australian government’s <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/funding-and-incentives/moon-to-mars-opportunities-for-australian-businesses">Moon to Mars</a> initiative, we are carrying out a feasibility study for our Binar Prospector mission, which we hope will involve two six-unit CubeSats making close-up observations of the Moon while in low-altitude lunar orbit. </p>
<p>The earliest we expect this mission to launch is 2025, when NASA begins its commercial lunar payload service. There are multiple opportunities to launch CubeSats to the Moon by the end of this decade, so there will be plenty of options. Most of these questions are the subject of the feasibility study and are confidential at the moment. </p>
<p>Shooting for the Moon isn’t just scientifically fascinating — it will benefit Australia too. By developing completely home-grown technology, we can avoid relying on expensive imported components, meaning the Australian space industry can stand on its own two feet while reaching for the heavens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166409/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Hartig works for Curtin University as a researcher in the Space Science and Technology Centre.</span></em></p>The Binar-1 mission is the first in a series that will hopefully culminate in a mission to the Moon, with satellites developed using know-how gained from designing tough instruments for the WA outback.Ben Hartig, PhD Candidate, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1516452020-12-09T14:45:09Z2020-12-09T14:45:09ZLunar gold rush could create conflict on the ground if we don’t act now – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373584/original/file-20201208-17-pi81i3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C15%2C1113%2C870&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The only six sites on the farside of the Moon suitable for telescope arrays of around 200km across. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to the Moon, everyone wants the same things. Not in the sense of having shared goals, but in the sense that all players target the same strategic sites – state agencies and the private sector alike. That’s because, whether you want to do science or make money, you will need things such as water and light. </p>
<p>Many countries and private companies have ambitious plans to explore or mine the Moon. This won’t be at some remote point in time but soon – <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-the-moon-and-beyond-3-the-new-space-race-and-what-winning-it-looks-like-120372">even in this decade</a>. As <a href="http://hea-www.harvard.edu/%7Eelvis/">Martin Elvis</a>, <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/alannak/home">Alanna Krolikowski</a> and I set out in a recent paper, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.2019.0563">published in the Transactions of the Royal Society</a>, this will spark tension on the ground unless we find ways to manage the situation imminently. </p>
<p>So far, much of the debate around exploring and mining the Moon has focused on tensions in space <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-companies-are-launching-a-new-space-race-heres-what-to-expect-80697">between state agencies and the private sector</a>. But as we see it, the pressing challenge arises from limited strategic resources.</p>
<p>Important sites for science are also important for infrastructure construction by state agencies or commercial users. Such sites include “peaks of eternal light” (where there is almost constant sunlight, and hence access to power), and continually shaded craters at the polar regions, where there’s water ice. Each is rare, and the combination of the two – ice on the crater floor and a narrow peak of eternal light on the crater rim – is a prized target for different players. But they occur only in polar regions, rather than at the equatorial sites <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-the-moon-and-beyond-1-what-we-learned-from-landing-on-the-moon-and-why-we-stopped-going-119701">targeted by the Apollo programme</a> in the 1960s and 1970s. </p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/change-5-china-launches-sample-return-mission-to-the-moon-is-it-winning-the-new-space-race-150665">successful landing of Chang’e 5</a> by China targeted a relatively smooth landing site on the lunar nearside, but it is part of a larger, phased programme due to take China’s space agency down to the lunar south pole by 2024. </p>
<p>India tried a more direct polar route, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-49875897">with its failed Chandrayaan-2 lander</a> crashing in the same region in 2019. The Russian Roscosmos, collaborating with the European Space Agency, is also targeting the south polar region <a href="https://www.space.com/russia-moon-mission-luna-25.html">for landings late in 2021</a> and, in 2023, at Boguslavsky crater, as a test mission. Next, Roscosmos will <a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2017/10/Luna-27">aim for the Aitken Basin</a> in the same region in 2022 on the to prospect for water in permanently shadowed areas. A number of private companies <a href="https://www.space.com/39398-moon-rush-private-lunar-landings-future.html">also have ambitious</a> plans for mining the Moon for resources.</p>
<p>Strategic resources that aren’t in the polar regions tend to be concentrated rather than evenly distributed. Thorium and uranium, which could be used for radioactive fuel, are found together in 34 regions that are areas of less than 80km wide. Iron resulting from asteroid impacts can be found within broader territories, ranging from 30-300km across, but there are only around 20 such areas. </p>
<p>And then there is the poster boy of lunar resources, mined in dozens of science fiction films: <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Space_for_Earth/Energy/Helium-3_mining_on_the_lunar_surface">Helium-3</a>, for nuclear fusion. Seeded by the Sun in the powdery crushed rock of the lunar surface, it is present in wide areas across the Moon, but the highest concentrations are found in only about eight regions, all relatively small (less than 50km across). </p>
<p>These materials will be of interest both to those trying to establish infrastructure on the Moon and are later targeting Mars as well as commercial exploitation (mining), or science – for example creating telescopic arrays on the lunar far side, away from the growing noise of human communications.</p>
<p>How then do we deal with the problem? <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-outer-space-treaty-has-been-remarkably-successful-but-is-it-fit-for-the-modern-age-71381">The Outer Space Treaty</a> (1967) holds that “the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind.” States do not get to claim parts of the Moon as property, but they can still use them. Where this leaves disputes and extraction by private companies is unclear. </p>
<p>Proposed successors to the treatment, such as the <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/intromoon-agreement.html">Moon Agreement (1979)</a>, are seen as too restrictive, requiring a formal framework of laws and an ambitious international regulatory regime. The agreement has failed to gain support among key players, including the US, Russia and China. More recent steps, such as the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html">Artemis Accords</a> – a set of guidelines surrounding the Artemis Program for crewed exploration of the Moon – <a href="https://theconversation.com/artemis-accords-why-many-countries-are-refusing-to-sign-moon-exploration-agreement-148134">are perceived as</a> heavily tied to the US programme. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284741/original/file-20190718-116586-1rueioz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284741/original/file-20190718-116586-1rueioz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284741/original/file-20190718-116586-1rueioz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284741/original/file-20190718-116586-1rueioz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284741/original/file-20190718-116586-1rueioz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284741/original/file-20190718-116586-1rueioz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/284741/original/file-20190718-116586-1rueioz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist’s impression of a Moon base.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ESA/Foster + Partners</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the worst case, this lack of framework could lead to heightened tensions on Earth. But it could also create unnecessary duplication of infrastructure, with everyone building their own stuff. That would drive up costs for individual organisations, which they would then have reasons to try to recoup in ways that could compromise opportunities for science and the legacy we leave for future generations. </p>
<h2>Ways forward</h2>
<p>Our best initial response may be modest, taking its cue from overlooked sites on Earth. Small terrestrial resource pools, such as lakes bordered by several villages, or fish stocks are often managed through approaches <a href="https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/cms/farnet2/on-the-ground/good-practice/projects/co-management-fish-resources-lake-vattern_en">developed locally</a> by the key players involved. </p>
<p>These suggest that a first step toward lunar-resource governance will be creating agreement among users. This should focus on the nature of the resources at stake, how their benefits should be distributed, and, crucially, the worst-case scenarios they seek to avoid. For example, actors will likely need to decide whether the peaks of eternal light should be managed as a patch of high-value real estate or as a volume of energy output to be shared. It may also be worth deciding on a case-by-case basis. </p>
<p>Another challenge will be fostering compliance with the governance arrangements that are devised. To that end, lunar users would be well advised to build shared installations, such as landing and supply facilities, to function as carrots that can be withheld from misbehaving actors. Such partial solutions will be difficult to add after a country or company has made irreversible investments in mission designs. Clearly, the time to devise these approaches is now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Milligan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Companies and space agencies alike will have to compete for very few useful sites on the Moon.Tony Milligan, Senior Researcher in Ethics with the Cosmological Visionaries project, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1486392020-10-26T18:47:02Z2020-10-26T18:47:02ZCool discovery: new studies confirm Moon has icy poles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365451/original/file-20201026-21-1gwjnyi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C68%2C4146%2C3363&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/2337/apollo-11-view-of-moon-limb-with-earth-on-the-horizon/">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Water is more abundant on the Moon than we might have suspected, according to two papers published today in Nature Astronomy that confirm the presence of ice on and near the lunar surface.</p>
<p>It’s a boost for the prospect of extracting water from the Moon, which can help support humans, or be converted to rocket fuel, although the situation is far from simple.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-01222-x">first paper</a>, led by Casey Honniball of the University of Hawai'i, offers confirmation of the suspected discovery of water on the Moon. In previous studies, researchers had examined frequencies of absorbed radiation and identified the presence of chemicals called hydroxyl ions on the Moon. </p>
<p>Hydroxyl ions (OH-) are part of the water molecule H₂0, meaning water ice was a likely, but not definite, source of the hydroxyls detected. But as hydroxyl ions are found in many other compounds too, it was impossible to be sure. </p>
<p>The new research used a new technique and has shown that a significant proportion of those hydroxyls are indeed found within water ice molecules, possibly bound or suspended in the Moon’s surface rocks. More research is needed to deduce the precise details, but the presence of molecular water is big news.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1198-9">second paper</a>, led by Paul Hayne of the University of Colorado, notes there are likely to be more “cold traps” containing water ice than previously estimated. </p>
<p>A “cold trap” is a place in permanent shadow, where ice can survive because it never receives direct sunlight, and where the temperature stays sufficiently low. Elsewhere, sunlight warms the ice, causing it to “sublime”: the Moon’s low atmospheric pressure means solid ice directly transforms into water vapour, which may refreeze somewhere else. </p>
<p>The study showed that at high latitudes, there were potentially very high numbers of these cold traps (possibly billions), some as small as 1cm across.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Images of locations of water on the Moon" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=181&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365448/original/file-20201026-19-d20ibe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=227&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Images revealing shadows on the lunar surface, at a range of different scales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hayne et al./Nature Astronomy</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blowin-in-the-solar-wind-how-the-moon-got-its-water-10160">Blowin' in the (solar) wind: how the moon got its water</a>
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<hr>
<p>How much water is on the Moon? Current estimates, based on the previous detection of hydroxyls, range from <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0405-8">100 million tonnes</a> to the more recent <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0309133314567585">2.9 billion tonnes</a>. According to the new estimate, up to 30% of some areas of the lunar surface could be ice in cold traps. </p>
<p>Even using the conservative price for water offered by launch company ELA of <a href="https://www.space.com/33297-satellite-refueling-business-proposal-ula.html">$US3,000 per kg</a> for delivery to low Earth orbit, the water on the Moon could be worth billions of dollars a year, because water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen and used as rocket fuel. Some of our research shows how <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063319301138">a business case can be made</a> at low Earth orbit. </p>
<p>The importance of the new findings is there is now far more certainty that the water is there, and there are more widespread opportunities to find it.</p>
<h2>Good news for ice miners?</h2>
<p>It’s a timely discovery, because there has been a lot of activity recently, including in Australia, developing projects to extract water on the Moon. In the past two weeks alone, NASA has <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-intuitive-machines-to-land-water-measuring-payload-on-the-moon/">let a contract</a> for an ice-mining drill, and <a href="https://www.space.com/cubesats-moon-water-ice-exploration">announced</a> the launch aboard NASA’s Space launch System (SLS), designed for deep space missions, of three small satellites looking for water. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/oct/10/european-space-agency-finalises-plans-to-explore-the-moon-properly">European</a> and <a href="https://www.space.com/china-planning-future-moon-missions-change-7">Chinese</a> space agencies have announced missions to explore the lunar south pole for water.</p>
<p>Australia is in this game because of the Australian Space Agency’s A$150 million commitment to the <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/funding-and-incentives/moon-to-mars-opportunities-for-australian-businesses">Moon to Mars</a> program. Australia also this month <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/news-media/australian-space-agency-news/australia-signs-nasas-artemis-accords">signed</a> the Artemis Accords, a series of bilateral agreements between the United States and other partners to develop a legal framework for space resources. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/artemis-accords-why-many-countries-are-refusing-to-sign-moon-exploration-agreement-148134">Artemis Accords: why many countries are refusing to sign Moon exploration agreement</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>That may sound like great news but Australia is also a signatory of the <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/intromoon-agreement.html">Moon Agreement</a>, the UN’s approach to peaceful uses of the Moon and other bodies. Some say this is inconsistent with the Artemis Accords. We have <a href="https://twitter.com/ACSERUNSW/status/1316133982514282496">called</a> for the Australian Space Agency to provide clarity on this issue, and hosted events to discuss it (including a <a href="https://youtu.be/ZS63KV2Rm_w">solid 1.5-hour debate</a>). </p>
<p>Yet Australia is now a signatory to both agreements, with no explanation as to how that is possible under international law. We need the Australian Space Agency to provide clarity about its interpretation of both instruments, as soon as possible. The urgency for this action is pressing — we are now much more certain there is water to extract on the Moon, and that the barriers to entry have been lowered. Australian companies are building capability in space resources and they need certainty to allow those businesses to grow.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148639/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster works for the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at UNSW. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Defence Innovation Network and the Australian Space Agency. He is an advisor to the Space Industry Association of Australia. </span></em></p>Researchers have long suspected there’s water - or ice, to be precise - on the Moon. New research now confirms it, and suggests it lurks in sun-starved nooks and crannies called ‘cold traps’.Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1486692020-10-26T16:17:09Z2020-10-26T16:17:09ZWater on the Moon: research unveils its type and abundance – boosting exploration plans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365367/original/file-20201025-21-apqt1y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">NASA JSC</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The Moon was for a long time considered to be bone dry, with analyses of returned lunar samples from the Apollo missions showing only trace amounts of water. These traces were in fact believed to be due to contamination on Earth. But over the past two decades, re-analyses of lunar samples, observations by spacecraft missions, and theoretical modelling <a href="https://theconversation.com/digging-deep-in-search-of-water-on-the-moon-26775">have proved</a> this initial assessment to be wrong.</p>
<p>“Water” has since been detected <a href="https://www.space.com/40481-moon-meteorite-mineral-hidden-lunar-water.html#:%7E:text=A%20mineral%20that%20requires%20the,moon%2C%20study%20team%20members%20said.">inside the minerals</a> in lunar rocks. Water ice has also been discovered to be mixed in with <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/115/36/8907">lunar dust grains</a> in cold, permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles. </p>
<p>But scientists haven’t been sure how much of this water is present as “molecular water” – made up of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen (H<sub>2</sub>O). Now two new studies published in Nature Astronomy <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-01222-x">provide an answer</a>, while also giving an idea of how and where <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1198-9">to extract it</a>. </p>
<h2>Water and more water</h2>
<p>The term water isn’t just used for molecular water, but also also for detections of hydrogen (H) and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/hydroxyl-group">hydroxyl</a> (OH). Although H and OH could be combined by astronauts to form molecular water at the lunar surface, it is important to know in what form these compounds are present initially. That’s because this will have an impact on their stability and location under lunar surface conditions, and the effort required to extract them. Molecular water, if present as water ice, would be easier to extract than hydroxyl locked in rocks. </p>
<p>The presence of water on the Moon is scientifically interesting; its distribution and form can help address some profound questions. For example, how did water and other volatile substances arrive at the inner Solar System in the first place? Was it produced there or <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms11684#:%7E:text=We%20determine%20that%20a%20combination,the%20water%20in%20the%20Moon.">brought there by asteroids or meteorites</a>? Knowing more about the specific compound could help us find out.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Picture of an astronauts footprint on the Moon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365543/original/file-20201026-13-1gc1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/365543/original/file-20201026-13-1gc1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365543/original/file-20201026-13-1gc1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365543/original/file-20201026-13-1gc1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365543/original/file-20201026-13-1gc1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365543/original/file-20201026-13-1gc1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/365543/original/file-20201026-13-1gc1h4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The lunar surface, seen by Apollo 11.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Understanding how much water is present, and its location, is also incredibly useful for planning human missions to the Moon and beyond. Water represents a key resource that can be used for life-support purposes – but it can also be split apart into its constituent elements and put to other uses. Oxygen could replenish air supplies, or be used in simple chemical reactions at the lunar surface to extract other useful resources from the regolith (soil composed of small grains). Water could also be used as rocket fuel in the form of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. </p>
<p>This means that the Moon has great potential to become a refuelling base for space missions further into the Solar System or beyond. Its lower gravity and lack of atmosphere means it would require less fuel to launch from there than from Earth. So when space agencies talk of <em>in-situ</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-a-moon-base-120259">resource utilisation at the Moon</a>, water is front and centre of their plans, making the new papers extremely exciting.</p>
<h2>New research</h2>
<p>Instruments on board various spacecraft have previously measured “reflectance spectra” (light broken down by wavelength) from the Moon. These detect light coming from a surface to measure how much energy it reflects at a specific wavelength. This will differ based on what the surface consists of. Because it has water, the Moon’s surface <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6130389/">absorbs light at 3𝜇m wavelengths</a> (0.000003 metres). However, absorptions at this wavelength cannot distinguish between molecular water and hydroxyl compounds. </p>
<p>Using the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/overview/index.html">NASA/DLR Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)</a> telescope, flown at 43,000 feet, the team behind one of the new papers observed sunlit sections of the Moon’s surface in wavelengths of 5-8𝜇m. H<sub>2</sub>O results in a characteristic peak in the spectrum at 6𝜇m, and by comparing a near-equatorial area as a baseline (thought to have almost no water) with an area near the south pole, this study reports the first unequivocal observations of molecular water under ambient conditions at the lunar surface at an abundance of 100-400 parts per million. </p>
<p>This is several orders of magnitude too large for most of the water to be adsorbed onto regolith grain surfaces. Instead, the authors suggest that the water they have observed must be locked up inside glass formed by tiny meteorites impacting and melting already hydrated regolith grains. Alternatively, it could be present in voids between grain boundaries, which would make it easier to extract. Where exactly this water is sited would be of extreme interest for future explorers as it would dictate the processes and energy required to extract it. </p>
<p>Luckily, the other paper used new theoretical models, based on temperature data and higher resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to refine predictions of where conditions are right for molecular water to be trapped as ice.</p>
<p>Previous research has shown already that there are such kilometres-wide “cold traps” in permanently shadowed areas <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/281/5382/1496.full">near the poles</a>, where water ice may be present. Evidence from orbiting spacecraft, however, was inconclusive about this being molecular water or hydroxyl. The new study finds that there are also abundant small cold traps where conditions permit water ice to accumulate – on the scale of centimetres or decimetres. In fact, such traps should be hundreds to thousands of times more numerous than larger cold traps.</p>
<p>The team calculates that 0.1% of the total lunar surface is cold enough to trap water as ice, and that the majority of these icy cold traps are at high latitudes (> 80°). This is particularly near to the lunar south pole, narrowing down the choice of future landing sites with the highest chance of finding trapped water ice. However, it is important to realise that the two studies investigated areas at different latitudes (55°-75°S vs >80°S) and therefore cannot be compared directly.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, these latest discoveries further enhance our understanding of the history of water on our nearest neighbour. They will undoubtedly strengthen plans for a return to the Moon. Instruments such as the European Space Agency’s (<a href="https://exploration.esa.int/web/moon/-/59102-about-prospect">PROSPECT payload on Luna 27</a>) will be able to make measurements on the Moon to “ground-truth” these tantalising glimpses of the wealth of information yet to be discovered.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Mortimer receives funding from the European Space Agency, and is a member of ESA's PROSPECT Science Team.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mahesh Anand receives funding from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). He is also a member of the European Space Agency's Prospect Science Team. </span></em></p>Two new studies significantly advance our understanding of water on the Moon and where to find it.James Mortimer, Postdoctoral researcher in Planetary Science and Exploration, The Open UniversityMahesh Anand, Professor of Planetary Science and Exploration, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1481342020-10-19T11:45:36Z2020-10-19T11:45:36ZArtemis Accords: why many countries are refusing to sign Moon exploration agreement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364203/original/file-20201019-21-1iptwh0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C29%2C4925%2C2776&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Illustration of a future Moon base by the European Space Agency, which hasn't signed the Artemis Accords.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ESA; RegoLight, visualisation: Liquifer Systems Group, 2018</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eight countries have signed the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html">Artemis Accords</a>, a set of guidelines surrounding the Artemis Program for crewed exploration of the Moon. The United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates and the US are now all participants in the project, which aims to return humans to the moon by 2024 and establish a crewed lunar base by 2030.</p>
<p>This may sound like progress. Nations have for a number of years struggled with the issue of how to govern a human settlement on the Moon and deal with the management of any resources. But a number of key countries have serious concerns about the accords and have so far refused to sign them.</p>
<p>Previous attempts to govern space have been through painstakingly negotiated international treaties. <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/outerspacetreaty.html">The Outer Space Treaty 1967</a> laid down the foundational principles for human space exploration – it should be peaceful and benefit all mankind, not just one country. But the treaty has little in the way of detail. The <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/intromoon-agreement.html">Moon Agreement of 1979</a> attempted to prevent commercial exploitation of outer-space resources, but only a small number of states have ratified it – the US, China and Russia haven’t. </p>
<p>Now that the US is pursuing the Artemis Program, the question of how states will behave in exploring the Moon and using its resources has come to a head. The signing of the accords represents a significant political attempt to codify key principles of space law and apply them to the programme. You can hear more about some of the governance issues facing nations who want to explore the Moon in the podcast <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-the-moon-and-beyond-4-whats-the-point-of-going-back-to-the-moon-120791">To the moon and beyond</a>, see link below.</p>
<iframe src="https://player.acast.com/5e3bf1111a6e452f6380a7bc/episodes/5e3bf133659d595770f8b907?theme=default&cover=1&latest=1" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="110px" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
<p>The accords are bilateral agreements and not binding instruments of international law. But by establishing practice in the area, they could have a significant influence on any subsequent governance framework for human settlements on Mars and beyond.</p>
<h2>Natural allies</h2>
<p>All seven partners who have agreed to the accords with the US are natural collaborators on the Artemis Program and will easily adhere to the stated principles. Japan is <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/07/22/1005546/why-japan-jaxa-nasas-most-important-space-partner-artemis-moon-gateway/">keen to engage</a> in lunar exploration. Luxembourg has dedicated legislation <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/luxembourg-asteroid-mining/">allowing for space mining</a> and has also signed an additional collaborative agreement with the US. </p>
<p>The UAE and Australia are both actively trying to establish collaborative links with the broader space industry, so this represents a <a href="https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/strategies-initiatives-and-awards/federal-governments-strategies-and-plans/national-space-programme#:%7E:text=The%20UAE%20launched%20the%20National,cadres%20specialised%20in%20airspace%20sciences.&text=Launching%20the%20National%20Space%20Programme,first%20settlement%20there%20by%202117.">perfect opportunity</a> for them to build up capacity. Italy, the UK and Canada all have ambitions to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-wider-benefits-of-space-investments-for-the-uk-economy">develop their</a> space manufacturing industries and will see this as a chance to grow their economies.</p>
<p>The contents of the accords are relatively uncontentious. Throughout, there is reference to the existing Outer Space Treaty framework, so they are tied closely to existing norms of space law. As such, the accords appear deliberately designed to reassure countries that this is not an instruction on how to behave from a hegemonic power.</p>
<p>There is an explicit statement that the mining of space resources is in accordance with international law. This follows on from the controversial passing of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-owns-space-us-asteroid-mining-act-is-dangerous-and-potentially-illegal-51073">Space Act 2015</a>, which put the right to use and trade space resources into American domestic law. But section 10(4) of the accords also commits to ongoing discussions at the UN <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/index.html">Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space</a> as to how the legal framework should develop.</p>
<p>The rest of the accords focus on safety in space operations, transparency and interoperability (which refers to the ability of space systems to work in conjunction with each other).</p>
<h2>Controversial issues</h2>
<p>If the substance is reassuring, the US promotion of the accords outside of the “normal” channels of international space law – such as the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space – will be a cause of consternation for some states. By requiring potential collaborators to sign bilateral agreements on behaviour instead, some nations will see the US as trying to impose their own quasi-legal rules. This could see the US leveraging partnership agreements and lucrative financial contracts to reinforce its own dominant leadership position. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Picture showing NASA's outline for lunar exploration." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364206/original/file-20201019-17-1jha4nk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364206/original/file-20201019-17-1jha4nk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364206/original/file-20201019-17-1jha4nk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364206/original/file-20201019-17-1jha4nk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364206/original/file-20201019-17-1jha4nk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364206/original/file-20201019-17-1jha4nk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364206/original/file-20201019-17-1jha4nk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">NASA’s outline for lunar exploration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
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<p>Russia has <a href="https://spacenews.com/russia-skeptical-about-participating-in-lunar-gateway/#:%7E:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%94%20The%20head%20of%20Russia's,existing%20International%20Space%20Station%20partnership">already stated</a> that the Artemis Program is too “US-centric” to sign it in its present form. China’s absence is explained by the US congressional <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/williampentland/2011/05/07/congress-bans-scientific-collaboration-with-china-cites-high-espionage-risks/">prohibition on collaboration</a> with the country. Concerns that this is a power grab by the US and its allies are fuelled by the lack of any African or South American countries amongst the founding partner states. </p>
<p>Intriguingly Germany, France and India are also absent. These are countries with well developed space programmes that would surely have benefited from being involved in Project Artemis. Their opposition may be down to a preference for the Moon Agreement and a desire to see a properly negotiated treaty governing lunar exploration. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.esa.int/">The European Space Agency</a> (ESA) as an organisation has not signed on to the accords either, but a number of ESA member states have. This is unsurprising. The ambitious US deadline for the project will clash with the lengthy consultation of the 17 member states required for the ESA to sign on as a whole. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the Artemis Accords are revolutionary in the field of space exploration. Using bilateral agreements that dictate norms of behaviour as a condition of involvement in a programme is a significant change in space governance. With Russia and China opposing them, the accords are sure to meet diplomatic resistance and their very existence may provoke antagonism in traditional UN forums. </p>
<p>Questions also remain about the impact that the looming US election and the COVID-19 pandemic will have on the programme. We already know that President Trump <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/may/05/trump-mining-moon-us-artemis-accords">is keen</a> to see astronauts on the Moon by 2024. The approach of his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, is a lot less clear. He may well be less wedded to the 2024 deadline and instead aim for broader diplomatic consensus on behaviour through engagement at the UN. </p>
<p>While broader international acceptance may be desirable, the US believes that the lure of the opportunities afforded by the Artemis Program will bring other partners on board soon enough. Space-active states now face a stark choice: miss out on being the first to use the resources of the Moon, or accept the price of doing business and sign up to the Artemis Accords.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148134/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Newman receives funding from the EDRF and has taken part in projects funded by the UK Space Agency. </span></em></p>Some nations are concerned the Artemis Accords represent a US power grab.Christopher Newman, Professor of Space Law and Policy, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1239942019-09-25T02:05:10Z2019-09-25T02:05:10ZDig deep: Australia’s mining know-how makes it the perfect $150m partner for NASA’s Moon and Mars shots<p>In the wake of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s meeting with US President Donald Trump, the Australian government <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/karenandrews/media-releases/backing-australian-business-jobs-us-moon-mars-mission">announced</a> on Sunday a commitment of A$150million “into our local businesses and new technologies that will support NASA on its inspirational campaign to return to the Moon and travel to Mars”.</p>
<p>It is unclear at this point where the government intends to spend this money, but there’s no harm in some reflective speculation.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-big-global-space-agencies-rely-on-australia-lets-turn-that-to-our-advantage-97939">The big global space agencies rely on Australia – let's turn that to our advantage</a>
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<p>Because this new commitment is to deep space missions, clearly it is separate from the A$245 million being invested in Australia’s <a href="https://smartsatcrc.com/">Smartsat Cooperative Research Centre</a> or the A$4.5 million for the <a href="https://www.cuava.com.au/">Centre for Cubesats, UAVs and their Applications</a>, both of which are generally looking at applications in Earth orbit.</p>
<p>The funding should also be separate from that committed to two Australian Space Agency initiatives: the A$6 million <a href="https://www.sasic.sa.gov.au/media/news/2019/03/19/lift-off-for-new-mission-control-centre">Mission Control Centre</a> for South Australia, and the A$4.5 million <a href="https://consult.industry.gov.au/space/robotics-automation-and-ai-program-design/user_uploads/space-infrastructure-fund--sif--robotics--automation-and-ai-control-centre-consultation-paper-1.pdf">Robotics, Automation and Artificial Intelligence Command and Control Centre</a> for Western Australia. Both of these centres could, however, be used in any planned Moon and Mars initiatives.</p>
<p>The funding allocation should also not include the money already committed to space projects by CSIRO under its <a href="https://research.csiro.au/space/">Space Technology Future Science Platforms</a> initiative.</p>
<h2>Where should it be spent?</h2>
<p>In thinking about where the money can be spent, it’s worth noting the brief is explicitly to “support NASA”. So, where could Australia help?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293930/original/file-20190925-51463-102tb06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">NASA’s Orion spacecraft, centrepiece of the Artemis mission, will need lots of technical support.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
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<p>NASA’s two main lunar initiatives are the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars/lunar-gateway">Lunar Gateway</a> and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artemis">Project Artemis</a>, both of which have been mentioned in relation to Australia’s funding pledge. Mars may be the long-term destination, but the Moon is where it’s at right now.</p>
<p>The Lunar Gateway is infrastructure: a spacecraft placed in a <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/142896/the-lunar-gateway-will-be-in-a-near-rectilinear-halo-orbit/">halo orbit</a> (always in view of Earth) that is sometimes as close as 3,000km to the Moon’s surface. It will be used as a hub for astronauts, equipment and communications, and a staging post for lunar landings and returns.</p>
<p>Artemis aims to use NASA’s large new rocket, the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html">Space Launch System</a>, to deliver astronauts, including the first woman to walk on the Moon, to the lunar surface by 2024. It will develop a host of new technologies and is openly collaborative.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-isnt-australia-in-deep-space-119533">Why isn't Australia in deep space?</a>
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<p>One contribution that cannot be ignored in this context is the technology emerging from Australia’s dominant mining industry. The strength in robotics, automation and remote operations has led to the above-mentioned robotics centre being slated for WA. What’s more, the <a href="http://spaceindustries.com.au/hot-news/remote-operation/">Australian Remote Operations in Space and on Earth institute</a>, a wide-ranging industry collaboration launched in July, is also likely to be headquartered in WA.</p>
<p>Another area where Australia is developing interesting technology is in optical communications with spacecraft, being driven by <a href="https://rsaa.anu.edu.au/aitc/capabilities/laser-communications">research at the Australian National University</a>. At a recent CSIRO workshop to develop “flagship” missions for Australia, the idea of using lasers to beam communications rapidly to the Moon and back was highly rated.</p>
<h2>Putting ideas out there</h2>
<p>Of the nine possible flagships considered, seven are potentially relevant to the new funding. These include a space weather satellite, an asteroid detection system, a cubesat to Mars, a radiotelescope on the Moon, and a solar sail that could power spacecraft to the Moon. There are plenty of good Australian ideas around.</p>
<p>However, the flagship most closely related to the content of the announcement was a project proposal (<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-can-pick-up-its-game-and-land-a-moon-mission-121109">disclosure: it’s mine!</a>) that would place an orbiter around the Moon and design a lander/rover to establish our ability to extract water from permanent ice. Water can be used for many things in a settlement, and when split into hydrogen and oxygen it can be used as rocket fuel to move things around, including to Mars.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-can-pick-up-its-game-and-land-a-moon-mission-121109">Australia can pick up its game and land a Moon mission</a>
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<p>All of our <a href="http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/mining-water-on-the-moon-the-wilde-project">research in this area</a> has focused on how this can be done in a commercial way, very much in line with the philosophy of “Space 2.0”. We are putting together a significant team of academics, companies (not just mining and space ones), and agencies to pursue these missions seriously.</p>
<p>There has never been a better time to be working in the space sector in Australia. I and all of my colleagues in the field hope the latest announcement is the next step in establishing the vibrant, sustainable space industry so many in Australia now see as achievable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster works for the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at UNSW, which is developing moon missions. He has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Space Research Program. He sits on the Advisory Board of the Space Industry Association of Australia. </span></em></p>From solar sail-powered spacecraft, to laser communications, to asteroid detection systems, there is no shortage of Australian ideas and expertise to help NASA explore the Moon and Mars.Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1231442019-09-10T12:33:06Z2019-09-10T12:33:06ZIndian Moon probe’s failure won’t stop an Asian space race that threatens regional security<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291577/original/file-20190909-109957-1lletpi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">India's launch vehicle carrying Chandrayaan-2 lifted off from Sriharikota, India, in late July 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-India-Moon-Mission/6bc518a48f704b2ba41ba9a6b2da5a86/15/0">Indian Space Research Organization via AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Sept. 7, India’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission deployed its Vikram lander for an attempted landing at the Moon’s south pole. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/asia/india-moon-landing-signal-intl-hnk-scli/index.html">Communications with the lander were lost</a> just minutes prior to the scheduled landing. Recent imaging suggests that Vikram may have survived the landing intact, but it might be unable to communicate. No matter the outcome, the mission has already proved successful as Chandrayaan-2 continues to orbit the Moon.</p>
<p>Chandrayaan-2 adds to the list of India’s recent accomplishments in space. This probe was sent on a scientific mission, but India’s achievements in space include <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/04/15/india-s-asat-test-incomplete-success-pub-78884">other military developments</a>, all of which reflect a challenge to China. Though some are warning of a <a href="https://www.space.com/new-space-race-moon-mike-pence-says.html">space race between the U.S. and China</a>, I suggest the real space race is happening in Asia. </p>
<p>This year alone, both China and India have landed, or attempted to land, probes on the Moon. These types of missions are one way to achieve international prestige. But they also peacefully demonstrate capabilities that could be used in conflict. From <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PxIOz7cAAAAJ&hl=en">my perspective as a space policy analyst</a>, India’s space activities, combined with its <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/748957876/pakistan-warns-indias-move-to-end-kashmir-s-special-status-could-lead-to-war">escalating tensions with Pakistan</a>, contribute to increasing regional tension.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291427/original/file-20190909-175668-1ia2nw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291427/original/file-20190909-175668-1ia2nw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291427/original/file-20190909-175668-1ia2nw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291427/original/file-20190909-175668-1ia2nw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291427/original/file-20190909-175668-1ia2nw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291427/original/file-20190909-175668-1ia2nw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291427/original/file-20190909-175668-1ia2nw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Employees of India’s space agency react with disappointment as they learn that engineers lost touch with its Vikram lunar lander.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/India-Moon-Mission/da21371b66db4a5fb1513e3dae50c955/1/0">AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi</a></span>
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<h2>Indian space achievements and capabilities</h2>
<p>Most international observers have focused, with good reason, on India’s nuclear ambitions. Like its nuclear program, India’s space program <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2018.06.003">traces its origins to the 1950s</a>, though the Indian Space Research Organization was not formed until 1969. Early on, the Indian Space Research Organization focused on design and fabrication of satellites. Later, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it concentrated on the development of its own rockets. Since then, India has developed several <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2018.06.003">reliable and powerful rockets</a> including its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. </p>
<p>India has used its expertise to foster a growing commercial space sector. <a href="https://spacenews.com/reactions-to-indian-asat/">It sells extra space on its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle</a> to commercial companies, which has generated significant income for the Indian Space Research Organization. <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2019/05/indias-space-program-the-commercial-domain/">India recently approved the creation</a> of a private institution, <a href="https://www.newspaceindia.com">NewSpace India Limited</a>, to facilitate technology transfers and market space-centric industries.</p>
<p>India’s first Moon mission, the orbiter <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/Spacecraft/chandrayaan-1">Chandrayaan-1</a>, launched in 2008, <a href="https://www.space.com/indian-space-research-organization.html">contributed to the discovery of water on the Moon</a>. In 2014, the <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission">Mars Orbiter Mission</a> made India the fourth entity to send a mission to the Red Planet after the U.S., Russia and the European Space Agency. The ultimate goal of the current Chandrayann-2 mission was to deploy a lander and rover on the Moon’s south pole to further explore potential water deposits. India also strives to <a href="https://www.space.com/41657-india-will-launch-astronauts-in-2022.html">launch its own astronauts</a> into space by 2022. </p>
<p>These efforts have been primarily civilian and peaceful in nature. India’s turn toward the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2018.06.003">military uses of space</a> began only in the 1990s. With greater frequency India is developing its own military satellites providing services such as remote sensing, tracking and communications. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2018.06.003">India’s missiles are benefitted</a> by technology developed at ISRO and their increasing capabilities reflects their concerns with not just Pakistan, but China.</p>
<p>Since the establishment of the Chinese communist state, <a href="https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=politics_faculty_pubs">conflict between the two states has come on several fronts</a>. There have been several clashes over disputed territorial boundaries and, as rising economic powers governed by different ideologies, India and China continue to battle for regional and international preeminence. </p>
<p>China’s own accomplishments have served as motivation for Indian developments. For instance, <a href="https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=politics_faculty_pubs">China’s nuclear tests in 1964 encouraged</a> the Indian nuclear program, which conducted its own nuclear tests in 1974. In space, China has expanded its scientific, civilian and military activities with an active human spaceflight program and its own program of lunar missions. In January of 2019, Chang'e-4 successfully landed on the far side of the Moon and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/china-s-lunar-rover-has-found-something-weird-moon-s-ncna1048416">just recently discovered</a> an unknown “gel-like” substance. </p>
<h2>Asian power balance</h2>
<p>India continues to feel pressure from its Chinese neighbor. Following <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-anti-satellite-test">China’s anti-satellite test in 2008</a>, India began development of its own space weapons. In March 2019, <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/04/15/india-s-asat-test-incomplete-success-pub-78884">India successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon</a>: a missile, launched from the ground, that destroyed one of its own satellites in low Earth orbit. Like previous anti-satellite tests performed by the U.S., Russia and China, there were <a href="https://www.space.com/india-anti-satellite-test-significance.html">immediate concerns about debris</a>. Despite this, India clearly intended <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2019/04/15/india-s-asat-test-incomplete-success-pub-78884">to send a message to China</a> and others, signaling their ability to not only protect their own satellites but destroy threatening Chinese ones as well.</p>
<p>These more aggressive moves fit in with other recent Indian actions. In August, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/748957876/pakistan-warns-indias-move-to-end-kashmir-s-special-status-could-lead-to-war">India withdrew the special status of Kashmir</a> that largely allowed the region to set its own laws. India then <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-the-protests-in-kashmir-121833">deployed troops to the region</a>, arrested several hundred Kashmiri politicians and moved to sever communication links between Kashmir and the rest of the region.</p>
<p>These actions, along with India’s space activities, do not go unnoticed by Pakistan. As analysts <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2018.06.003">Mian Zahid Hussain and Raja Qaiser Ahmed write</a>, “Pakistan feels more insecure under India’s low earth orbit satellites and dominant surveillance and espionage capabilities.” This insecurity, combined with India’s behavior toward Kashmir, could prompt Pakistan to develop anti-satellite weapons and other space technologies. If this starts an arms race, it would introduce more instability in an already delicate region.</p>
<p>In a speech following the loss of communication with the Vikram lander, Indian Prime Minister <a href="https://www.space.com/india-prime-minister-chandrayaan-2-moon-landing-video-transcript.html">Narendra Modi said</a>, “We are proud of our space program and scientists, their hard work and determination. (They) ensure a better life, not only for our citizens, but also for other nations.” Like other space powers, India is seeking to improve its technology and way of life, but advances can also bring greater security concerns.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wendy Whitman Cobb is affiliated with the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Her views are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Defense or any of its components. </span></em></p>Are India and China engaged in a new space race? India’s increasingly ambitious space ventures, including its Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission, are evidence of the country’s interest in space exploration.Wendy Whitman Cobb, Professor of Strategy and Security Studies, Air UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.