The Moon and Human History

The Earth’s Moon has had a profound effect on the entire history and development of human civilization. Many cultures used the cycle of the Moon’s phases to measure time. The Moon has been venerated in various forms throughout history. The Greeks worshiped the Moon goddess Artemis. The Romans called her Diana. The Celts called her Arianrod. The Egyptians considered Isis a goddess of the Moon. Indeed, in virtually every culture, the deity associated with the Moon has always been female, possibly because of associations of the lunar phase cycle with the female menstrual cycle.

Galileo first discovered, through his telescope, that the Moon was a world, with mountains and dark areas that he called “Mare” or “Seas” which we now know are relatively flat areas that are nevertheless drier than the most arid Earthly desert. Nineteenth century astronomers thought that the Moon might be an abode of life, much like the Earth.

Journeys to the Moon have been the subject of literature for centuries. Cyrano de Bergerac wrote of traveling to the Moon, buoyed up by jars of dew. In the 19th Century, Jules Verne wrote of Civil War era astronauts flying to the Moon in a ship fired by a massive cannon. H. G. Wells has his explorers travel to the Moon in a ship built of an impossible gravity shielding material he called Cavorite.

With the advent of motion pictures, voyages to the Moon became the subject of film as well. The very first was the French film, Le Voyage dans la Lune. Others included the German film, Frau im Mond, and the George Pal classic, Destination Moon.

Rocket pioneer Robert Goddard made one of the first serious suggestions for sending rockets to the Moon. He was attacked by the New York Times for this idea in 1920. The Times loftily explained that space travel was impossible, since without atmosphere to push against, a rocket could not move so much as an inch. Professor Goddard, it was clear, lacked "the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." Nearly fifty years later, the Times published a retraction and an apology soon after men actually did travel to the Moon.

After the end of the Second World War, as rocket technology advanced and the Cold War began to rage, the United States and the Soviet Union turned their attentions heavenward. It was only natural that space would become a venue for super power competition and that the Moon would be a destination. Fleets of probes, Soviet Lunas and Zonds and American Rangers, Lunar Orbiters, Surveyors, and Apollos, were sent to the Moon between 1959 and 1976 during the first great age of lunar exploration.

Luna 1

Launched on January 2nd, 1959, the Soviet probe Luna 1 was the first to arrive at the vicinity of the Earth’s Moon. Luna 1 passed within 5995 km of the Moon's surface on 4 January after 34 hours of flight. Luna 1 provided new data on the Earth's radiation belt and outer space, including the discovery that the Moon had no magnetic field and that a solar wind, a strong flow of ionized plasma emanating from the Sun, streamed through interplanetary space.

Luna 2

Luna 2 was launched on September 9th, 1959. It impacted on the lunar surface east of Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity) near the Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters on September 14th. Lunar 2 confirmed that the Moon had no magnetic field and no radiation belt.

Luna 3

Luna 3 was launch on October 4th, 1959. The spacecraft passed within 6,200 km of the Moon near the south pole at its closest approach on October 6th 1959 and continued on to the far side. It was the first to return images of the lunar far side, hitherto hidden from human eyes. The images showed mountainous terrain, very different from the near side, and only two dark regions which were named Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Dreams).

President Kennedy and the Race to the Moon

When John F. Kennedy assumed the Presidency in 1961 he very shortly experience a series of embarrassing reversals. On April 12, 1961, the Soviets scored another space first when they orbited Yuri Gargarin. Though Alan Shephard would make a brief, suborbital flight on May 5th, America would not send an astronaut into orbit until February, 1962. The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba added to Kennedy’s consternation.

Kennedy hit upon an inspiring goal that would rally the country and focus the energies of the nascent US space program. So, on May 25th, Kennedy addressed a join session of Congress. “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

The race for the Moon had begun in earnest.

Ranger 7

Ranger 7 was the first successful American lunar probe. It was designed to return visual images of the lunar surface before impacting. It was launched on July 28th, 1964. It returned 4,308 photographs of excellent quality occurred over the final 17 minutes of flight. It impacted the Moon on July 31st in an area between Mare Nubium and Oceanus Procellarum (subsequently named Mare Cognitum.)

Ranger 8

Ranger 8 was launched on February 17th, 1965 and reached the Moon on February 20th, 1965. It returned 7,137 photographs of good quality over the final 23 minutes of flight. It impacted in Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility.)

Ranger 9

Ranger 9 was launched on March 21st, 1965. It returned 5,814 photographs during the final 19 minutes of flight. Ranger 9 impacted the Moon in the crater Alphonsus on March 24th.

Zond 3

Zond 3 was launched on July 18th, 1965 and flew by the Moon on July 20th at a distance of 9200 kilometers. The Soviet probe returned twenty five images of the lunar far side before proceeding into interplanetary space.

Luna 9

Luna 9 launched on January 31st, 1966 and the Soviet probe became the first vehicle to soft land on the lunar surface in the Ocean of Storms on February 3rd. Luna 9 sent back images of a panoramic view of the landing site, including nearby rocks and the horizon.

Luna 10

Luna 10 was launched on March 31st, 1966 and entered lunar orbit on April 3rd. Instruments acquired data of infrared emissions from the Moon and radiation conditions of the lunar environment, as well as conducting gravitational studies.

Surveyor 1

Surveyor 1 was launched on May 20th, 1966 and landed in a flat area inside a 100 km crater north of Flamsteed Crater in southwest Oceanus Procellarum on June 2nd, 1966. It was the first American probe to soft land on the lunar surface. Surveyor 1 was primarily an engineering test mission for Apollo, validating technologies necessary for flying and landing on the lunar surface. It returned 10,338 photos, including some of the probe’s footpads and the surrounding terrain, prior to nightfall on June 14. Surveyor 1 also acquired data on the radar reflectivity of the lunar surface, bearing strength of the lunar surface, and spacecraft temperatures for use in the analysis of the lunar surface temperatures. After withstanding a lunar night, the probe transmitted additional pictures during the section lunar day before its battery power ran out.

Lunar Orbiter 1

Lunar Orbiter 1 was launched on August 10th, 1966 and entered lunar orbit 92.1 hours later. It took a total of 42 high resolution and 187 medium resolution photos, covering over 5 million square km of the Moon's surface. It also took the first two pictures of the Earth ever from the distance of the Moon. Orbit tracking sensors on Lunar Orbiter 1 showed a slight "pear-shape" to the Moon based on the gravity field and no micrometeorite impacts were detected.

Luna 11

Luna 11 was launched on August 24th, 1966 and entered lunar orbit on August 28th, 1966. It studied lunar gamma- and X-ray emissions in order to determine the Moon's chemical composition, lunar gravitational anomalies, the concentration of meteorite streams near the Moon, and the intensity of hard corpuscular radiation near the Moon.

Luna 12

Luna 12 was launched on October 2nd, 1966 and entered lunar orbit on October 25th, 1966. It returned an unknown number of pictures of the lunar surface.

Lunar Orbiter 2

Lunar Orbiter 2 was launched on November 6th, 1966 and entered lunar orbit 92.5 hours later. It returned a total of 609 high resolution and 208 medium resolution photos were returned, with resolutions down to 1 meter, including a spectacular oblique picture of Copernicus crater. It acquired new data on lunar gravity, radiation, and micrometeoroids

Luna 13

Luna 13 was launched on December 21st, 1966 and landed in the region of Oceanus Procellarum on December 24th, 1966. It transmitted visual panoramas of the nearby lunar landscape at different sun angles. It also collected data on the mechanical and physical properties and the cosmic-ray reflectivity of the lunar surface.

Lunar Orbiter 3

Lunar Orbiter 3 was launched on February 5th, 1967 and entered lunar orbit on February 8th. Lunar Orbiter 3’s mission was to map areas of the lunar surface to ascertain safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo space craft. A total of 149 medium resolution and 477 high resolution images were returned.

Surveyor 3

Surveyor 3 was launched on April 17th, 1967 and touched down on a 14 degree slope inside a subdued 200 meter crater in southeast Oceanus Procellarum roughly 370 km south of Copernicus crater on April 20th, 1967. Surveyor 3 returned 6326 pictures and operated a surface sampler that dug a number of trenches as deep as 18 centimeters. New data on the strength, texture, and structure of lunar material was transmitted by the spacecraft. Images of an eclipse of the Sun by the Earth and related thermal measurements were also returned.

Lunar Orbiter 4

Lunar Orbiter 4 was launched on May 4th, 1967 and entered an elliptical near polar high lunar orbit days later. A total of 419 high resolution and 127 medium resolution pictures were acquired covering 99% of the Moon's near side at resolutions from 58 meters to 134 meters. Radiation data showed increased dosages due to solar particle events producing low energy protons.

Lunar Orbiter 5

Lunar Orbiter 5 was launched on August 1st, 1967 and entered an elliptical near polar high lunar orbit on August 5th, 1967. A total of 633 high resolution and 211 medium resolution pictures at resolution down to 2 meters were acquired, bringing the cumulative photographic coverage by the 5 Lunar Orbiters to 99% of the Moon's surface.

Surveyor 5

Surveyor 5 was launched on September 8th, 1967 and touched down on the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) on September 11th, 1967. Surveyor 5 returned 18,006 pictures during its first lunar day. An alpha-scattering instrument was deployed and performed the first in-situ analysis of an extraterrestrial body, returning 83 hours of data on lunar soil composition during the first lunar day, A vernier engine erosion experiment was conducted, consisting of a firing of the vernier engines for 0.55 seconds while the spacecraft sat on the ground to examine the effects of the engines on the surface. An additional 1048 pictures and 22 hours of alpha-scattering data were received during the second lunar day. Throughout four lunar days, 19,118 pictures were transmitted.

Surveyor 6

Surveyor 6 was launched on November 7th, 1967 and landed in Sinus Medii on November 10th, 1967. The probe returned a total of 29,952 images. The alpha-scattering experiment acquired 30 hours of data on the surface material. On 17 November the vernier engines were fired for 2.5 seconds, causing Surveyor to lift off the lunar surface 3 to 4 meters and land about 2.4 meters west of its original position. This lunar "hop" represented the first powered takeoff from the lunar surface and furnished new information on the effects of firing rocket engines on the Moon, allowed viewing of the original landing site, and provided a baseline for stereoscopic viewing and photogrammetric mapping of the surrounding terrain.

Surveyor 7

Surveyor 7 was launched on January 7th, 1968 and touched down 29 miles north of Tycho Crater on January 10th. The probe returned a total of 21,038 pictures. The soil sampler dug a small trench and 34 hours of alpha-scattering data was gathered from inside the trench. Results were generally consistent with earlier missions except that the chemical analysis of the highland crust showed it to be poorer in iron group elements than the previous samples, all from the lunar maria. The magnet experiments showed the presence of magnetic constituents in amounts comparable to those at the Surveyor 5 and 6 sites. The lander also successfully detected laser beams transmitted from Earth.

Luna 14

Luna 14 was launched on April 7th, 1968 and entered lunar orbit on April 10th, 1968. The probe returned data on the interaction of the earth and lunar masses, the lunar gravitational field, the propagation and stability of radio communications to the spacecraft at different orbital positions, solar charged particles and cosmic rays, and the motion of the Moon.

Zond 5

Zond 5 was launched on September 14th, 1968, executed a loop around the Moon, and splash landed in the Indian Ocean on September 21st, 1958. The vehicle contained a biological payload consisting of turtles, wine flies, meal worms, plants, seeds, bacteria, and other living matter. There was also a pilot’s seat with a mannequin with radiation sensors. Photographs of the Earth were taken at a distance of 90,000 km. Zond 5 was considered the first flight test of a precursor for a Soviet manned lunar spacecraft.

Zond 6

Zond 6 was launched on November 10th, 1968, flew around the Moon, and landed back in the Soviet Union on November 17th, 1968. The spacecraft carried scientific probes including cosmic-ray and micrometeoroid detectors, photography equipment, and a biological payload and was a precursor for a Soviet manned lunar spacecraft. Photographs of the lunar near and farside were taken with panchromatic film.

Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was launched on December 21st, 1968, entered lunar orbit on December 24th, and returned to Earth on December 27th. Apollo 8 was the first manned space craft to orbit the Moon. Its crew consisted of Frank Borman, commander, William Anders, lunar module pilot, and James Lovell, command module pilot. The mission objectives of Apollo 8 were primarily engineering. These were to demonstrate crew/space vehicle/mission support facilities during manned Saturn V/CSM mission, demonstrate translunar injection, CSM navigation, communications, and midcourse corrections, assess CSM consumables and passive thermal control, demonstrate CSM performance in cislunar and lunar orbit environment, and demonstrate communications and tracking at lunar distances. High resolution photographs were taken of possible landing sites on the lunar surface.

Two memorable events took place during the Apollo 8 mission. First, the image of the Earth rising over the desolate lunar surface as transmitted from the spacecraft caught the imagination of the world, which in 1968 had been wracked by turmoil, war, and civil violence. Second, the astronauts decided to celebrate Christmas Eve in lunar orbit by reading the story of creation from the Book of Genesis during a world wide broadcast. Mission commander Borman concluded with, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."

Apollo 10

Apollo 10 was launched on May 18th, 1969, entered lunar orbit on May 21st, and returned to Earth on May 26th. Apollo 10 was the final dry run before the moon landing attempt planned for Apollo 11 and consisted of the command and service modules, dubbed “Charlie Brown” and the lunar module, dubbed “Snoopy.” Its crew consisted of mission commander Thomas P. Stafford, command module pilot John Young, and lunar module pilot Eugene Cernan.

While orbiting the Moon, Stafford and Cernan entered the lunar module, separated it from the command and service module, and conducted a series of tests of all of the lunar module’s systems. Several low altitude passes were made over the lunar surface, one being just 14 kilometers high, and extensive photography was conducted of some of the planned Apollo landing sites.

Luna 15

Luna 15 was launched on July 13th, 1969 and went into lunar several days later. At the time, Luna 15 was thought to be an attempt to upstage the flight of Apollo 11, which launched several days later. Apparently, though, the probe studied circumlunar space, the lunar gravitational field, and the chemical composition of lunar rocks, as well as took some photographs.

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was launched on July 16th, 1969, landed on the lunar surface in the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) on July 20th and returned to Earth on July 24th. Her crew consisted of Neil Armstrong, mission commander, Michael Collins, command module pilot, and Buzz Aldrin, lunar modul pilot. The command and service module was dubbed Columbia and the lunar module was called Eagle.

July 20th, 1969 will be forever remembered as one of those epochal days in human history. The day that men landed on the Moon was the fulfillment of an ancient dream, given form by President Kennedy in 1961, and finally executed by the efforts of hundreds of thousands of men and women over eight years.

Soon after landing, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin exited the Eagle lunar module and became the first men to walk on the Moon. “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind,” were the first words to be spoken from the lunar surface and has become one of the most remembered sentences in the history of civilization. The EVA of two hours and thirty one minutes was broadcast live on television and was witnessed by over a billion people out of a world population at the time of about three and a half billion. The American flag was raised over the landing site, several scientific instruments were left on the lunar surface, and a number of rock and soil samples were taken back to Earth. It was, as someone said, the greatest day since Creation.

The Soviet Manned Effort

Even before the Kennedy Moon landing challenge, the Soviets had the idea of sending cosmonauts into a loop around the Moon. After the Kennedy announcement, Soviiet lunar efforts moved into high gear.

By 1965, the Soviet effort had been split into two. The first was the L1 program which was designed to send cosmonauts into a looping trajectory around the Moon and back to Earth. The unmanned precursors of this effort was known as the Zond (Russian for “probe”), but the manned version was never flown.

The second effort was dubbed the N1-L3. A Soviet vehicle consisting of a a translunar boost stage, an upper stage to brake into lunar orbit, a lunar orbiter, and a lunar lander would be launched by the massive launch vehicle known as the N1. Two cosmonauts would travel to the Moon, one remaining in orbit, and the other executing the landing. Serious problems with the N1 booster, which tended to blow up on launch, precluded any Soviet lunar mission. The last N1 launch attempt occurred in November, 1972 with the total loss of the vehicle due to an explosion.

The Soviets did conduct a more advance lunar project, called L3M, which would have used the N1, once perfected, to land large modules on the Moon for long term exploration. But the Soviet government cancelled the program in 1974 in the belief that it made no point to land cosmonauts on the Moon since the Americans had already won the Moon race.

Zond 7

Zond 7 was launched on August 7th, 1969, flew past the Moon in August 11th, and landed on Earth on August 14th. It conducted two photography sessions during its flight.

Apollo 12

Apollo 12 was launched on November 14th, 1969, landed in the Ocean of Storms on November 19th and returned to Earth on November 24th. Her crew consisted of Pete Conrad, mission commander, Richard Gordon, command module pilot, and Alan Bean, lunar module pilot. The command and service module was named the Yankee Clipper. The lunar module was named the Intrepid. While on the lunar surface, the crew retrieved parts of the unmanned Surveyor 3, which had landed on the Moon in April 1967 deployed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) deployed, and gathered numerous soil and rock samples.

Luna 16

Luna 16 was launched on September 12th, 1970, landed on the lunar surface in the Mare Foecunditatis (the Sea of Fertility) on September 20th, and returned to Earth on September 24th. While on the Moon, the probe collected 101 grams of lunar soil by use of a drilling device, which it returned to Earth. A portion of the probe remained behind to measure temperature and radiation.

Zond 8

Zond 8 was launched on October 20th, 1970, flew past the Moon on October 24th, and returned to Earth on October 27th. While looping around the Moon, the probe obtained numerous photographs as well as scientific measurements.

Luna 17

Luna 17 launched on November 10th, 1970, and touched down on the lunar surface in the Sea of Rains. Luna 17 was a rover vehicle and traversed the lunar surface for nearly a year, taking pictures and conducting soil analysis.

Apollo 14

Apollo 14 was launched on January 31st, 1971, landed on the Moon in the Frau Mauro highlands on February 5th, and returned to Earth on February 9th. Her crew consisted of Alan Shepherd, mission commander, Stuart Roosa, command module pilot, and Edgar Mitchell, lunar module pilot. The command and service module was named Kitty Hawk, the lunar module was called Antares. During the thirty five hours spent on the lunar surface, Shepherd and Mitchell preformed two EVA, totally nine hours of operation. They took soil and rock samples from thirteen locations, deployed or conducted ten experiments, and took numerous photographs. The climax of the mission occurred when Shepherd hit a golf ball on the lunar surface with an improvised club.

Apollo 15

Apollo 15 was launched on July 26th, 1971, landed on the Moon in the Hadley Rille area on July 30th, 1971, and returned to Earth on August 7th, 1971. The crew consisted of Dave Scott, mission commander, Al Worden, command module pilot, and James Irwin, lunar module pilot. The command and service module was named Endeavour. The lunar module was called Falcon. Apollo 15 was the first of the longer duration three day surface missions and was also the first to use the lunar rover, which greatly extended the range of the lunar astronauts. The astronauts performed three EVAs for combined period of 18.5 hours, traversing nearly 28 kilometers, collecting soil and rock samples from twelve locations, performed or deployed ten experiments, and conducted extensive photography. The climax of the mission occurred when mission commander Dave Scott dropped a hammer and a falcon feather onto the airless Moon, thus showing that Galileo’s finding that objects of different mass fall at the same rate was correct.

Luna 18

Luna 18 was launched on September 2nd, 1971 and entered lunar orbit on September 7th. It completed fifty four lunar orbits before it was sent to the Moon, impacting on September 11th.

Luna 19

Luna 19 was launched on September 28th, 1971 and entered lunar orbit on October 3rd. It conducted studies of lunar gravitational fields and location of mascons (mass concentrations), as well as the lunar radiation environment, the gamma-active lunar surface, and the solar wind. The probe also conducted photography of the lunar surface.

Luna 20

Luna 20 was launched on February 14th, 1972, landed on the lunar surface in the Apollonius highlands on February 21st and returned to Earth on February 25th. While on the lunar surface, Luna 30 conducted panoramic photography and retrieved 30 grams of lunar soil.

Apollo 16

Apollo 16 was launched on April 16th, 1973, landed on the lunar surface in the Descartes Mountains on April 21st, and returned to Earth on April 27th. Her crew consisted on John Young, mission commander, Thomas Mattingly, command module pilot, and Charles Duke, lunar module pilot. The command and service module was named Casper and the lunar module was named Orion. While on the lunar surface, the crew of Apollo conducted three EVA lasting 20.3 hours and traversing 26.7 kilometers in the lunar rover. They collected soil and rock samples from 11 sites, deployed or conducted nine experiments, and took many photographs.

Apollo 17

Apollo 17 was launched on December 7th, 1972, landed on the lunar surface in the Taurus-Littrow Valley on December 11, and returned to Earth on December 19th. Her crew consisted of Eugene Cernan, mission commander, Ronald Evans, command module pilot, and Harrison Schmitt, lunar module pilot. The command and service module was called America and the lunar module was called Challenger. The crew of Apollo 17 conducted three EVAs on the lunar surface, totaling 22 hours and traversing 36 kilometers. They collected soil and rock samples from 22 sites, conducted or deployed 10 experiments, and took numerous photographs.

Apollo 17 was the last of the Apollo missions to the Moon. As of this date, no one has ventured back to the Moon.

Luna 21

Luna 21 launched on January 8th, 1973 and landed on the Moon on January 15th. Luna 21 collected images of the lunar surface, examined ambient light levels to determine the feasibility of astronomical observations from the Moon, performed laser ranging experiments from Earth, observed solar X-rays, measure local magnetic fields, and studied mechanical properties of the lunar surface material.

Luna 22

Luna 22 was launched on May 29th, 1974 and entered lunar orbit on June 2nd, 1974. It conducted photographic mapping, as well as studying the Moon's magnetic field, surface gamma ray emissions, composition of lunar surface rocks, the lunar gravitational field, micrometeorites, and cosmic rays.

Luna 24

Luna 24 was launched on August 9th, 1976 and landed on the lunar surface in the Mare Crisium (Sea of Crisis) on August 18th. The probe collected 170.1 grams of lunar samples and returned to Earth on August 22nd.

Clementine

Clementine, a joint project of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization and NASA, was designed to test a variety of sensors by mapping the surface of the Moon. The probe was launched on January 25th, 1995 and, after two flybys of the Moon, entered lunar orbit on February 21st. Over two months, Clementine took images of the lunar surface in a variety of wavelengths, including ultraviolet, infrared, and visual light. It also conducted laser ranging altimetry, and charged particle measurements to ascertain the surface mineralogy of the Moon. In May, Clementine blasted out of lunar orbit for an attempted flyby of the asteroid Geographos, but a software fault caused the probe’s engines to expend all of its fuel, making the maneuver impossible.

One of the great discoveries of Clementine was of indications of frozen water ice in the permanently shadowed lunar north and south poles. If this discovery is confirmed, it will have profound implications for future lunar settlers.

Lunar Prospector

Lunar Prospector was one of the first probes to be operated under NASA’s “faster, better, cheaper” policy and was a follow up to Clementine. In was launched on January 7th, 1998 and entered lunar orbit on January 13th. Its orbit was lowered to a 100 kilometer polar orbit on January 16th. After conducting data collection from this orbit for nearly a year, the probes orbit was lowered to a 15 by 45 kilometer orbit for higher resolution studies. In July, 1999, Lunar Prospector was deliberately crashed into a permanently shadowed crater at the lunar south pole in hopes of creating a plume of water vapor. None was detected however.

Nevertheless, Lunar Prospector’s instruments showed an unusual concentration of hydrogen at the lunar poles, indicating water ice. The instruments also showed concentrations of iron, titanium, and rocks rich in potassium, rare earth elements and phosphorus. There were also indications of thorium and uranium.

Smart 1

Smart 1, the first lunar probe operated by the European Space Agency, was launched on September 27th, 2003. Using ion thrusters, Smart 1 spent over a year moving from Earth orbit into lunar orbit. It entered lunar orbit on November 13th, 2004 and spent several moths regularizing its orbit. Scientific operations began in February 2005 and are now ongoing.

The Future of Lunar Exploration

Lunar exploration is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. Along with the Europeans, the Japanese, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Americans are all planning missions to the Moon. President George W. Bush announced a new effort to send human explorers beyond low Earth orbit, starting with a return to the Moon. If all goes as planned, astronauts will return to the Moon some time in the next decade, this time to stay.

Why the Moon?

Many people ask, because of its perceived cost, why explore the Moon? Many scientists believe that the Moon contains many of the secrets of the early solar system and that a geological and geophysical study of that world would yield many of those secrets. Other scientists believe that the far side of the Moon, shielded from the Earth, would be a perfect place for a radio and an optical observatory to explore the universe.

The official rationale for returning to the Moon in the current Vision for Space Exploration, proposed by President Bush, is that it would serve as a dress rehearsal for expeditions to Mars. Technologies and techniques that would be used to explore the Red Planet could be tested out on the Moon, just three days journey away from Earth.

One of the more compelling reasons for returning to the Moon is that it may be a source of limitless energy. Over billions of years, solar winds have deposited an isotope called Helium 3 on the lunar surface. The reason that Helium 3 is important is that, when fusion reactors become commercially practicable, it can be used as fuel with little or no radioactive byproducts.

Another idea that has been proposed for using the Moon as a source of energy is to cover a portion of its surface with solar collectors and beaming the collected energy to Earth. Many terawatts of solar energy hits the Moon every year and collecting just a portion of it could sate much of the Earth’s hunger for power.

Another theory suggests that the Moon may have deposits of platinum group metals through eons of asteroid bombardment. The reason that is important is that platinum is used as a catalyst for hydrogen fuel cells. If the Earth is to go to a hydrogen economy, forsaking oil and coal, then extraterrestrial sources of platinum may become commercially accessible.

Indeed, the Moon might become the Saudi Arabia of the later part of the 21st Century in terms of being a source for energy. Only in this case there will be no bad tempered Islamofascists to complicate things.