Do not worry, a lunar return will not harm the moon | Daily Planet

If we go back to the Moon and stay – to do more than just leave extra footprints – extract lunar resources, explore its surface, and install bases similar to outposts, change the appearance of the moon? By using the Moon, will it change what shines in the night sky?

President Trump has called for America's return to the moon to use its resources. On this blog, I've tried over the years to describe why the Moon holds so many promises:

The Moon is unique – a attainable and worthy goal within the reach of humanity. With its constantly open launch windows and proximity, intellectual value and utility, the Moon is the next logical destination for the US National Space Program and an ever increasing number of commercial investors. If we take the initiative now, it will not take a lot of time for many of us to experience the pleasure of seeing people and machines enter another world, and look with a smile heard by others. experience it for the first time

who have not attended the Apollo landings, or who are new to the idea of ​​space resources, think that the exploration of the Moon (or any other extraterrestrial body) will definitely damage the landscape of the sky. Our solar system is vast, which makes very minimal the impact of humans on some of these bodies; but to arrive everywhere in an affordable and sustainable way, the use of space resources – starting on the Moon, is absolutely essential for long-term housing of space and ultimately the survival of our species. We intend to develop and use lunar materials not only to say that we have done so, but also to create new capabilities in spaceflights, including a land transport system – permanent moon which, with time, will take us everywhere

As I explained in the Washington Post in 2005:

Living on the Moon will expand the sphere of the 39 Human and robotic activity in the space beyond the low Earth orbit. To become a multiplanet species, we must master the techniques of extracting local resources, build our ability to travel and explore in hostile areas, and create new reservoirs of culture and human experience. This long journey begins on the Moon – the gathering place, the supply station and the class for our journey into the universe.

Several decades have passed since Krafft Ehricke observed, "If God wanted man to become a space species, man was Moon. "We have learned a lot about our Moon since Ehricke first made this idea, and the discoveries made during these decades have shown that the Earth's moon holds the key to making humanity a space species.

With new revelations about the availability of useful resources on the Moon, he But the use of lunar resources to build an expandable, affordable and affordable transport capacity in the space will be done At the expense of the aesthetic properties of our moon? In order to understand if extending the reach of humanity into space using space resources is something we should do, it is important to know and understand some things about the Moon.

The Moon has a slightly larger area than the African continent. It formed about 4.5 billion years ago and is about 240,000 miles from Earth. It takes three days for a spacecraft to reach the moon from Earth. We learn at school that the Moon controls the tides of the Earth. One side of the moon is called the farthest side (incorrectly, the "dark side") because it is permanently facing the Earth's gap. (The far side is the only place in our universe that is permanently shielded from the Earth's radio noise and where radio telescopes will be able to "see" the formation of the universe.) The Earth-facing side s & # 39, call the near side. Due to the tilt of the moon, there are craters located on the poles of the moon that never see the sunlight and where the frozen water is trapped. Because the Sun revolves around the horizon at the moon's poles (rather than rising and setting like the Sun on Earth), there are also areas near polar craters (cold traps) that receive a constant sunlight. As the Moon's temperature continues, the sunny regions of the polar regions enjoy a constant, benign temperature of -50 ° C.

The Moon has no atmosphere to protect the surface of the hard rays of the sun; For billions of years, the grains of lunar dust have absorbed these solar wind particles. Thus, the lunar soil (regolith) holds a recoverable geological record that can be studied from the sampling of the Moon's surface. To date, work in this area has revealed that the ancient Sun may have a composition different from that of the modern Sun. As the Sun is the main control of the Earth's climate, the study of the lunar regolith can help us understand the Earth's climatic history. In addition, galactic cosmic rays encroach on the regolith, leaving revealing chemical evidence of ancient supernova (stars bursting beyond our solar system). This extra-lunar disk has barely been studied and could lead to significant advances in astrophysics, and should be of particular interest to climatologists.

The Earth weighs 81 times more than the Moon, while the Moon has only 60% of the Earth's density. Because of its small size, the gravitational pull of the moon is much less than that of the Earth. On the moon, your weight would be one-sixth of your weight on Earth. Globally, the surface of the Moon has been heavily cratered by meteorites and comets that have affected it for billions of years. (This ancient Earth-Moon system bombardment system is also waiting for a detailed scientific study.) At the equator of the moon, a day lasts two weeks, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 100 to 150 ° C, followed by A night of two weeks. cold -250 ° C (the 28-day / night lunar cycle coincides with its monthly revolution around the Earth). It will take unique and dedicated individuals to travel in space and work in such environments.

I have noted over the years that the Polar Regions of the Moon are the most valuable real estate in our solar system. To arrive, survive and thrive on the moon, we must focus our efforts on the poles that provide near constant light, located near a potentially exploitable water. But this real estate is not "turnkey", it will take development. Using ancestral techniques such as fractional distillation, coupled with more recent techniques such as 3D printing and advanced robotics, we will begin to learn how to extract and fabricate life support systems, housing, manufacturing and setting. -planet on the Moon.

People on Earth will not see smoke escaping from chimneys on the moon, not only because it's far away but because there will not be any. They will not see a surface scarred by open-pit mining or will observe the urban scour over its entire surface. The scope of development on the Moon will be limited. The robots will begin the first steps of the lunar return: find the ice deposits, dig the raw materials and install the infrastructure of an outpost. The manufacture of rocket fuel (oxygen and hydrogen) using ice-water poles does not require extensive infrastructure; the regolith (soil) will be heated to melt frozen water (and other volatile matter) that mix with it, whose vapors are then collected, condensed and stored for further processing.

It is highly improbable that human activities visibly change the appearance of the moon. At the poles, all ice excavation occurs in dark areas permanently. These areas are not visible from Earth or from orbit. Over time, large expanses of dark maria (ground lava, called regolith) could be excavated by the exploitation of helium-3. However, even through powerful telescopes, an operation of several kilometers would not be visible from Earth. The mining excavation will be less than a few meters deep, and the most noticeable effect will be to slightly lighten the surface materials (similar to a young crater, where the regolith is disturbed). It could even become an attraction "Where is Waldo" – "Can you spot mining on the moon? Climb to the telescope and make your best estimate – $ 10 per test!"

There are no way around that; Mining is essential not just on the moon, but wherever we go in the universe. Asteroids are also mineable, but since extraction usually involves separating things from others, gravity can be very useful. This property makes the larger bodies of the inner solar system good candidates for testing the techniques of extraction and storage of ice water. We will never free ourselves from the Earth if we are forced to throw everything with us out of the deepest gravity in the internal solar system. Starting on the Moon, humans will learn what it is like to live in low gravity. (The gravity of Mars will take a little time to get used to, because it represents about 1/3 of Earth's gravity.)

Because soils are different on different land bodies, we need to understand how to work in new and difficult conditions. The ground of the Moon (regolith) is angular, fine and abrasive. The soil of Mars is chemically toxic. Essentially, there is no air (atmosphere) on the moon, so when the ground (in gravity of a sixth of the Earth) is disturbed, it takes a ballistic trajectory, then falls back immediately to the surface (you can see this effect the Apollo videos). Although the atmospheric density of Mars is just 1/100 that of the Earth (and composed of 99% carbon dioxide), it still creates dust storms on a global scale and reduces visibility. to almost zero. All of these issues pose problems that need to be addressed so that humans can venture farther from Earth.

As Ehricke has noted (in an ironic manner), we have a moon, which has unparalleled potential for changing the Earth. possibilities for the future and survival of humanity. We are finally on our way back to the moon to learn, work and prepare for more ambitious journeys in space. Once people on the Earth regularly see images returned from the surface of the Moon, it will change them more than anyone else will be there to change the Moon. On an emotional and intellectual level, lunar development will be wonderful and exciting – a new age filled with unprecedented opportunities for the future and the direction of humanity.