Posted on by Matt Williams

What is Moon Mining?

Chris Hadfield recently explained how humanity should create a Moon base before attempting to colonize Mars. Credit: Foster + Partners is part of a consortium set up by the European Space Agency to explore the possibilities of 3D printing to construct lunar habitations. Credit: ESA/Foster + Partners

Ever since we began sending crewed missions to the Moon, people have been dreaming of the day when we might one day colonize it. Just imagine, a settlement on the lunar surface, where everyone constantly feels only about 15% as heavy as they do here on Earth. And in their spare time, the colonists get to do all kinds of cool research trek across the surface in lunar rovers. Gotta admit, it sounds fun!

More recently, the idea of prospecting and mining on the Moon has been proposed. This is due in part to renewed space exploration, but also the rise of private aerospace companies and the NewSpace industry. With missions to the Moon schedules for the coming years and decades, it seems logical to thinking about how we might set up mining and other industries there as well?

Proposed Methods:

Several proposals have been made to establish mining operations on the Moon; initially by space agencies like NASA, but more recently by private interests. Many of the earliest proposals took place during the 1950s, in response to the Space Race, which saw a lunar colony as a logical outcome of lunar exploration.

Building a lunar base might be easier if astronauts could harvest local materials for the construction, and life support in general. Credit: NASA/Pat Rawlings
Building a lunar base might be easier if astronauts could harvest local materials for the construction, and life support in general. Credit: NASA/Pat Rawlings

For instance, in 1954 Arthur C. Clarke proposed a lunar base where inflatable modules were covered in lunar dust for insulation and communications were provided by a inflatable radio mast. And in 1959, John S. Rinehart – the director of the Mining Research Laboratory at the Colorado School of Mines – proposed a tubular base that would “float” across the surface.

Since that time, NASA, the US Army and Air Force, and other space agencies have issued proposals for the creation of a lunar settlement. In all cases, these plans contained allowances for resource utilization to make the base as self-sufficient as possible. However, these plans predated the Apollo program, and were largely abandoned after its conclusion. It has only been in the past few decades that detailed proposals have once again been made.

For instance, during the Bush Administration (2001-2009), NASA entrtained the possibility of creating a “lunar outpost”. Consistent with their Vision for Space Exploration (2004), the plan called for the construction of a base on the Moon between 2019 and 2024. One of the key aspects of this plan was the use of ISRU techniques to produce oxygen from the surrounding regolith.

These plans were cancelled by the Obama administration and replaced with a plan for a Mars Direct mission (known as NASA’s “Journey to Mars“). However, during a workshop in 2014, representatives from NASA met with Harvard geneticist George Church, Peter Diamandis from the X Prize Foundation and other experts to discuss low-cost options for returning to the Moon.

The workshop papers, which were published in a special issue of New Space, describe how a settlement could be built on the Moon by 2022 for just $10 billion USD. According to their papers, a low-cost base would be possible thanks to the development of the space launch business, the emergence of the NewSpace industry, 3D printing, autonomous robots, and other recently-developed technologies.

In December of 2015, an international symposium titled “Moon 2020-2030 – A New Era of Coordinated Human and Robotic Exploration” took place at the the European Space Research and Technology Center. At the time, the new Director General of the ESA (Jan Woerner) articulated the agency’s desire to create an international lunar base using robotic workers, 3D printing techniques, and in-situ resources utilization.

In 2010, NASA established the Robotic Mining Competition, an annual incentive-based competition where university students design and build robots to navigate a simulated Martian environment. One of the most-important aspects of the competition is creating robots that can rely on ISRU to turn local resources into usable materials. The applications produced are also likely to be of use during future lunar missions.

Other space agencies also have plans for lunar bases in the coming decades. The Russian space agency (Roscosmos) has issued plans to build a lunar base by the 2020s, and the China National Space Agency (CNSA) proposed to build such a base in a similar timeframe, thanks to the success of its Chang’e program.

An early lunar outpost design based on a module design (1990). Credit: NASA/Cicorra Kitmacher
An early lunar outpost design based on a module design (1990). Credit: NASA/Cicorra Kitmacher

And the NewSpace industry has also been producing some interesting proposals of late. In 2010, a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs came together for create Moon Express, a private company that plans to offer commercial lunar robotic transportation and data services, as well as the a long-term goal of mining the Moon. In December of 2015, they became the first company competing for the Lunar X Prize to build and test a robotic lander – the MX-1.

In 2010, Arkyd Astronautics (renamed Planetary Resources in 2012) was launched for the purpose of developing and deploying technologies for asteroid mining. In 2013, Deep Space Industries was formed with the same purpose in mind. Though these companies are focused predominantly on asteroids, the appeal is much the same as lunar mining – which is expanding humanity’s resource base beyond Earth.

Resources:

Based on the study of lunar rocks, which were brought back by the Apollo missions, scientists have learned that the lunar surface is rich in minerals. Their overall composition depends on whether the rocks came from lunar maria (large, dark, basaltic plains formed from lunar eruptions) or the lunar highlands.

Moon rocks from the Apollo 11 mission. Credit: NASA
Moon rocks from the Apollo 11 mission. Credit: NASA

Rocks obtained from lunar maria showed large traces of metals, with 14.9% alumina (Al²O³), 11.8% calcium oxide (lime), 14.1% iron oxide, 9.2% magnesia (MgO), 3.9% titanium dioxide (TiO²) and 0.6% sodium oxide (Na²O). Those obtained from the lunar highlands are similar in composition, with 24.0% alumina, 15.9% lime, 5.9% iron oxide, 7.5% magnesia, and 0.6% titanium dioxide and sodium oxide.

These same studies have shown that lunar rocks contain large amounts of oxygen, predominantly in the form of oxidized minerals. Experiments have been conducted that have shown how this oxygen could be extracted to provide astronauts with breathable air, and could be used to make water and even rocket fuel.

The Moon also has concentrations of Rare Earth Metals (REM), which are attractive for two reasons. On the one hand, REMs are becoming increasingly important to the global economy, since they are used widely in electronic devices. On the other hand, 90% of current reserves of REMs are controlled by China; so having a steady access to an outside source is viewed by some as a national security matter.

Similarly, the Moon has significant amounts of water contained within its lunar regolith and in the permanently shadowed areas in its north and southern polar regions.This water would also be valuable as a source of rocket fuel, not to mention drinking water for astronauts.

Water in Polar Regions on the Moon Credit: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ./USGS
Spectra gathered by the NASA Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission, showing the presence of water in Moon’s polar regions. Credit: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown University/USGS

In addition, lunar rocks have revealed that the Moon’s interior may contain significant sources of water as well. And from samples of lunar soil, it is calculated that adsorbed water could exist at trace concentrations of 10 to 1000 parts per million. Initially, it was though that concentrations of water within the moon rocks was the result of contamination.

But since that time, multiple missions have not only found samples of water on the lunar surface, but revealed evidence of where it came from. The first was India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission, which sent an impactor to the lunar surface on Nov. 18th, 2008. During its 25-minute descent, the impact probe’s Chandra’s Altitudinal Composition Explorer (CHACE) found evidence of water in the Moon’s thin atmosphere.

In March of 2010, the Mini-RF instrument on board Chandrayaan-1 discovered more than 40 permanently darkened craters near the Moon’s north pole that are hypothesized to contain as much as 600 million metric tonnes (661.387 million US tons) of water-ice.

In November 2009, the NASA LCROSS space probe made similar finds around the southern polar region, as an impactor it sent to the surface kicked up material shown to contain crystalline water. In 2012, surveys conducted by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) revealed that ice makes up to 22% of the material on the floor of the Shakleton crater (located in the southern polar region).

Evidence of water on the Moon? Image credit: NASA
Hydrogen detected in the polar regions of the Moon point towards the presence of water. Credit: NASA

It has been theorized that all this water was delivered by a combination of mechanisms. For one, regular bombardment by water-bearing comets, asteroids and meteoroids over geological timescales could have deposited much of it. It has also been argued that it is being produced locally by the hydrogen ions of solar wind combining with oxygen-bearing minerals.

But perhaps the most valuable commodity on the surface of the Moon might be helium-3. Helium-3 is an atom emitted by the Sun in huge amounts, and is a byproduct of the fusion reactions that take place inside. Although there is little demand for helium-3 today, physicists think they’ll serve as the ideal fuel for fusion reactors.

The Sun’s solar wind carries the helium-3 away from the Sun and out into space – eventually out of the Solar System entirely. But the helium-3 particles can crash into objects that get in their way, like the Moon. Scientists haven’t been able to find any sources of helium-3 here on Earth, but it seems to be on the Moon in huge quantities.

Benefits:

From a commercial and scientific point of view, there are several reasons why Moon mining would be beneficial to humanity. For starters, it would be absolutely essential to any plans to build a settlement on the Moon, as in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) would be far more cost effective than transporting materials from Earth.

Artist concept of a base on the Moon. Credit: NASA, via Wikipedia
Artist concept of a base on the Moon. Credit: NASA, via Wikipedia

Also, it is predicted that the proposed space exploration efforts for the 21st century will require large amounts of materiel. That which is mined on the Moon would be launched into space at a fraction of the cost of what is mined here on Earth, due to the Moon’s much lower gravity and escape velocity.

In addition, the Moon has an abundance of raw materials that humanity relies on. Much like Earth, it is composed of silicate rocks and metals that are differentiated between a geochemically distinct layers. These consist of is iron-rich inner core, and iron-rich fluid outer core, a partially molten boundary layer, and a solid mantle and crust.

In addition, it has been recognized for some time that a lunar base – which would include resource operations – would be a boon for missions farther into the Solar System. For missions heading to Mars in the coming decades, the outer Solar System, or even Venus and Mercury, the ability to be resupplied from an lunar outpost would cut the cost of individual missions drastically.

Challenges:

Naturally, the prospect of setting up mining interests on the Moon also presents some serious challenges. For instance, any base on the Moon would need to be protected from surface temperatures, which range from very low to high – 100 K (-173.15 °C;-279.67 °F) to 390 K (116.85 °C; 242.33 °F) – at the equator and average 150 K (-123.15 °C;-189.67 °F) in the polar regions.

Schematic showing the stream of charged hydrogen ions carried from the Sun by the solar wind. One possible scenario to explain hydration of the lunar surface is that during the daytime, when the Moon is exposed to the solar wind, hydrogen ions liberate oxygen from lunar minerals to form OH and H2O, which are then weakly held to the surface. At high temperatures (red-yellow) more molecules are released than adsorbed. When the temperature decreases (green-blue) OH and H2O accumulate. [Image courtesy of University of Maryland/F. Merlin/McREL]
Schematic showing the stream of charged hydrogen ions carried from the Sun by the solar wind.Credit: University of Maryland/F. Merlin/McREL]
Radiation exposure is also an issue. Due to the extremely thin atmosphere and lack of a magnetic field, the lunar surface experiences half as much radiation as an object in interplanetary space. This means that astronauts and/or lunar workers would at a high risk of exposure to cosmic rays, protons from solar wind, and the radiation caused by solar flares.

Then there’s the Moon dust, which is an extremely abrasive glassy substance that has been formed by billions of years of micrometeorite impacts on the surface. Due to the absence of weathering and erosion, Moon dust is unrounded and can play havoc with machinery, and poses a health hazard. Worst of all, its sticks to everything it touches, and was a major nuisance for the Apollo crews!

And while the lower gravity is attractive as far as launches are concerned, it is unclear what the long-term health effects of it will be on humans. As repeated research has shown, exposure to zero-gravity over month-long periods causes muscular degeneration and loss of bone density, as well as diminished organ function and a depressed immune system.

In addition, there are the potential legal hurdles that lunar mining could present. This is due to the “The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies” – otherwise known as “The Outer Space Treaty”. In accordance with this treaty, which is overseen by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, no nation is permitted to own land on the Moon.

A lunar base, as imagined by NASA in the 1970s. Image Credit: NASA
A lunar base, as imagined by NASA in the 1970s. Image Credit: NASA

And while there has been plenty of speculation about a “loophole” which does not expressly forbid private ownership, there is no legal consensus on this. As such, as lunar prospecting and mining become more of a possibility, a legal framework will have to be worked out that ensures everything is on the up and up.

Though it might be a long way off, it is not unreasonable to think that someday, we could be mining the Moon. And with its rich supplies of metals (which includes REMs) becoming part of our economy, we could be looking at a future characterized by post-scarcity!

We have written many articles on Moon mining and colonization here at Universe Today. Here’s Who Were the First Men on the Moon?, What were the First Lunar Landings?, How Many People have Walked on the Moon?, Can you Buy Land on the Moon?, and Building A Space Base, Part 1: Why Mine On The Moon Or An Asteroid?

For more information, be sure to check out this infographic on Moon Mining from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Astronomy Cast also has some interesting episodes on the subject. Listen here – Episode 17: Where Did the Moon Come From? and Episode 113: The Moon – Part I.

Sources:

Posted on by Matt Williams

Scientists Identify the Source of the Moon’s Water

New research finds that asteroids delivered as much 80 percent of the Moon's water. Credit: LPI/David A. Kring

Over the course of the past few decades, our ongoing exploration the Solar System has revealed some surprising discoveries. For example, while we have yet to find life beyond our planet, we have discovered that the elements necessary for life (i.e organic molecules, volatile elements, and water) are a lot more plentiful than previously thought. In the 1960’s, it was theorized that water ice could exist on the Moon; and by the next decade, sample return missions and probes were confirming this.

Since that time, a great deal more water has been discovered, which has led to a debate within the scientific community as to where it all came from. Was it the result of in-situ production, or was it delivered to the surface by water-bearing comets, asteroids and meteorites? According to a recent study produced by a team of scientists from the UK, US and France, the majority of the Moon’s water appears to have come from meteorites that delivered water to Earth and the Moon billions of years ago.

For the sake of their study, which appeared recently in Nature Communications, the international research team examined the samples of lunar rock and soil that were returned by the Apollo missions. When these samples were originally examined upon their return to Earth, it was assumed that the trace of amounts of water they contained were the result of contamination from Earth’s atmosphere since the containers in which the Moon rocks were brought home weren’t airtight. The Moon, it was widely believed, was bone dry.

The blue areas show locations on the Moon's south pole where water ice is likely to exist (NASA/GSFC)
The blue areas show locations on the Moon’s south pole where water ice is likely to exist. Credit: NASA/GSFC

However, a 2008 study revealed that the samples of volcanic glass beads contained water molecules (46 parts per million), as well as various volatile elements (chlorine, fluoride and sulfur) that could not have been the result of contamination. This was followed up by the deployment of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) in 2009, which discovered abundant supplies of water around the southern polar region,

However, that which was discovered on the surface paled in comparison the water that was discovered beneath it. Evidence of water in the interior was first revealed by the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter – which carried the NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and delivered it to the surface. Analysis of this and other data has showed that water in the Moon’s interior is up to a million times more abundant than what’s on the surface.

The presence of so much water beneath the surface has begged the question, where did it all come from? Whereas water that exists on the Moon’s surface in lunar regolith appears to be the result of interaction with solar wind, this cannot account for the abundant sources deep underground. A previous study suggested that it came from Earth, as the leading theory for the Moon’s formation is that a large Mars-sized body impacted our nascent planet about 4.5 billion years ago, and the resulting debris formed the Moon. The similarity between water isotopes on both bodies seems to support that theory.

Near-infrared image of the Moon's surface by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 mission Image credit: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ./USGS
Near-infrared image of the Moon’s surface by NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization’s Chandrayaan-1 mission. Credit: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ./USGS

However, according to Dr. David A. Kring, a member of the research team that was led by Jessica Barnes from Open University, this explanation can only account for about a quarter of the water inside the moon. This, apparently, is due to the fact that most of the water would not have survived the processes involved in the formation of the Moon, and keep the same ratio of hydrogen isotopes.

Instead, Kring and his colleagues examined the possibility that water-bearing meteorites delivered water to both (hence the similar isotopes) after the Moon had formed. As Dr. Kring told Universe Today via email:

“The current study utilized analyses of lunar samples that had been collected by the Apollo astronauts, because those samples provide the best measure of the water inside the Moon. We compared those analyses with analyses of meteoritic samples from asteroids and spacecraft analyses of comets.”

By comparing the ratios of hydrogen to deuterium (aka. “heavy hydrogen”) from the Apollo samples and known comets, they determined that a combination of primitive meteorites (carbonaceous chondrite-type) were responsible for the majority of water to be found in the Moon’s interior today. In addition, they concluded that these types of comets played an important role when it comes to the origins of water in the inner Solar System.

These images produced by the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal features at the Moon's northern and southern poles in the regions that lie in perpetual darkness. They show regions that are consistent with having large surface porosities — indicating "fluffy" soils — while the reddening is consistent with the presence of water frost on the surface. Credit: Southwest Research Institute
Images produced by the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal features at the Moon’s northern and southern poles, as well as the presence of water frost. Credit: NASA/SwRI

For some time, scientists have argued that the abundance of water on Earth may be due in part to impacts from comets, trans-Neptunian objects or water-rich meteoroids. Here too, this was based on the fact that the ratio of the hydrogen isotopes (deuterium and protium) in asteroids like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed a similar percentage of impurities to carbon-rich chondrites that were found in the Earth’s coeans.

But how much of Earth’s water was delivered, how much was produced indigenously, and whether or not the Moon was formed with its water already there, have remained the subject of much scholarly debate. Thank to this latest study, we may now have a better idea of how and when meteorites delivered water to both bodies, thus giving us a better understanding of the origins of water in the inner Solar System.

“Some meteoritic samples of asteroids contain up to 20% water,” said Kring. “That reservoir of material – that is asteroids – are closer to the Earth-Moon system and, logically, have always been a good candidate source for the water in the Earth-Moon system. The current study shows that to be true. That water was apparently delivered 4.5 to 4.3 billion years ago.“

The existence of water on the Moon has always been a source of excitement, particularly to those who hope to see a lunar base established there someday. By knowing the source of that water, we can also come to know more about the history of the Solar System and how it came to be. It will also come in handy when it comes time to search for other sources of water, which will always be a factor when trying to establishing outposts and even colonies throughout the Solar System.

Further Reading: Nature Communications

Posted on by Matt Williams

Moonbase by 2022 For $10 Billion, Says NASA

Based on a series of articles that were recently made available to the public, NASA predicts it could build a base on the Moon by 2022, and for cheaper than expected. Credit: NASA

Returning to the Moon has been the fevered dream of many scientists and astronauts. Ever since the Apollo Program culminated with the first astronauts setting foot on the Moon on July 20th, 1969, we have been looking for ways to go back to the Moon… and to stay there. In that time, multiple proposals have been drafted and considered. But in every case, these plans failed, despite the brave words and bold pledges made.

However, in a workshop that took place in August of 2014, representatives from NASA met with Harvard geneticist George Church, Peter Diamandis from the X Prize Foundation and other parties invested in space exploration to discuss low-cost options for returning to the Moon. The papers, which were recently made available in a special issue of New Space, describe how a settlement could be built on the Moon by 2022, and for the comparatively low cost of $10 billion.

Continue reading “Moonbase by 2022 For $10 Billion, Says NASA”

Posted on by Matt Williams

We Explored Pluto, Now Let’s Explore The Nearest Star!

Artist’s impression of the planet around Alpha Centauri B. Credit: ESO
Artist’s impression of the planet around Alpha Centauri B. Credit: ESO

On July 14th, 2015, the New Horizons space probe made history when it became the first spacecraft to conduct a flyby of the dwarf planet of Pluto. Since that time, it has been making its way through the Kuiper Belt, on its way to joining Voyager 1 and 2 in interstellar space. With this milestone reached, many are wondering where we should send our spacecraft next.

Naturally, there are those who recommend we set our sights on our nearest star – particularly proponents of interstellar travel and exoplanet hunters. In addition to being Earth’s immediate neighbor, there is the possibility of one or more exoplanets in this system. Confirming the existence of exoplanets would be one of the main reasons to go. But more than that, it would be a major accomplishment!

Continue reading “We Explored Pluto, Now Let’s Explore The Nearest Star!”

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Relive Missions to the Moon with Fan Videos Created from NASA’s Apollo Archives

Astronaut Alan L. Bean holds a Special Environmental Sample Container filled with lunar soil collected during the second Apollo 12 extravehicular activity (EVA) conducted by astronauts Charles Conrad Jr., commander, and Bean, lunar module pilot. Conrad, who took this picture, is reflected in Bean's helmet visor. November 20, 1969. Credit: NASA/JSC.

When NASA recently posted over 8,000 images from the Apollo missions on Flickr, I just knew something good was going to happen! There are so many creative people out there that just need a little spark, a little inspiration and they’re off creating wonderful things. Three videos so far have surfaced based on the imagery from NASA’s Apollo Archive.

The first comes from Tom Kucy who posted his video titled “Ground Control” on You Tube and said this is a “small personal project, bringing NASA’s Apollo Archive photos to life.” This video is like a 2.5 minute mini-documentary of the Apollo missions. Kucy uses stunning photos and audio from the Apollo missions to create a truly stunning video. As one commenter said, “This happened prior to my birth, and I truly feel like I was there. Nice, nice work!”

Kucy also added that he has the intention of bringing more missions life, so stay tuned for more.

The second video was created by harrisonicus on Vimeo, who said he was looking through the Project Apollo Archive and “at one point, I began clicking through a series of pics quickly and it looked like stop motion animation. So, I decided to see what that would look like without me having to click through it.”

It’s like a flipbook of the images, with music:

The original Apollo Archive website has been online since 1999 and was created by Kipp Teague as a companion website to his “Contact Light” site , a personal retrospective on Project Apollo. NASA now has posted the imagery on Flickr, giving them wider accessibility.

The third is a short gif video put together by planetary astronomer Alex Parker and posted on Twitter. He found new images of the damaged Apollo 13 Service Module, cleaned them up a bit and created this wonderful animation:

It’s a great new look at the service module, which was damaged when an oxygen tank in the module exploded. When the Apollo 13 crew jettisoned the crippled Service Module as they returned to Earth, they saw the extent of the damage from the explosion of the tank. “There’s one whole side of that spacecraft missing!” Jim Lovell radioed to Mission Control, his voice reflecting his incredulousness at seeing the damage of a 13-ft panel blown off the spacecraft.

You can read more about the damage on the SM in an article in our series on Apollo 13 here.

Below are a few of our favorite images from the collection that we’ve found so far. Enjoy, and make sure you check out all the images for yourself!

The Apollo 15 Saturn V Space Vehicle is seen from a camera located at the mobile launcher’s 360-foot level at Launch Pad 39A during venting of the liquid oxygen during the “wet” portion of the Countdown Demonstration Test on July 13, 1971. Credit: NASA/KSC
The Apollo 15 Saturn V Space Vehicle is seen from a camera located at the mobile launcher’s 360-foot level at Launch Pad 39A during venting of the liquid oxygen during the “wet” portion of the Countdown Demonstration Test on July 13, 1971. Credit: NASA/KSC
The Lunar Module for the Apollo 17 mission undergoes final checkout in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building prior to mating to the Saturn V launch vehicle. November 3, 1972. Credit: NASA.
The Lunar Module for the Apollo 17 mission undergoes final checkout in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building prior to mating to the Saturn V launch vehicle. November 3, 1972.
Credit: NASA.
The Earth as photographed from the Apollo 4 mission, the first, unmanned test flight of the Saturn V, which reached an apogee of 18,092 kilometers. November 9, 1967. Credit: NASA.
The Earth as photographed from the Apollo 4 mission, the first, unmanned test flight of the Saturn V, which reached an apogee of 18,092 kilometers. November 9, 1967. Credit: NASA.
Crescent Earth as viewed by the crew of Apollo 15. Credit: NASA.
Crescent Earth as viewed by the crew of Apollo 15. Credit: NASA.
The Apollo 17 Lunar Module "Challenger" ascent stage after returning from the lunar surface, photographed from the Command Module "America" prior to rendezvous. Credit: NASA/KSC.
The Apollo 17 Lunar Module “Challenger” ascent stage after returning from the lunar surface, photographed from the Command Module “America” prior to rendezvous. Credit: NASA/KSC.
Posted on by Matt Williams

Who Were the First Men on the Moon?

Bootprint in the lunar regolith left behing by the Apollo 11 crew. Credit: NASA
Bootprint in the lunar regolith left behing by the Apollo 11 crew. Credit: NASA

On July 20th, 1969, history was made when men walked on the Moon for the very first time. The result of almost a decade’s worth of preparation, billions of dollars of investment, strenuous technical development and endless training, the Moon Landing was the high point of the Space Age and the single greatest accomplishment ever made.

Because they were the first men to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin are forever written in history. And since that time, only ten men have had the honor of following in their footsteps. But with plans to return to the Moon, a new generation of lunar explorers is sure to be coming soon. So just who were these twelve men who walked on the Moon?

Prelude to the Moon Landing:

Before the historic Apollo 11 mission and Moon Landing took place, NASA conducted two manned missions to test the Apollo spacecraft and the Saturn V rockets that would be responsible for bringing astronauts to the lunar surface. The Apollo 8 mission – which took place on Dec. 21st, 1968 – would be the first time a spacecraft left Earth orbit, orbited the Moon, and then returned safely to Earth.

During the mission, the three-astronaut crew – Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders – spent three days flying to the Moon, then completed 10 circumlunar orbits in the course of 20 hours before returning to Earth on Dec. 27th.

During one of their lunar orbits, the crew made a Christmas Eve television broadcast where they read the first 10 verses from the Book of Genesis. At the time, the broadcast was the most watched TV program in history, and the crew was named Time magazine’s “Men of the Year” for 1968 upon their return.

On May 18th, 1969, in what was described as a “dress rehearsal” for a lunar landing, the Apollo 10 mission blasted off. This involved testing all the components and procedures that would be used for the sake of the Moon Landing.

The crew – which consisted of Thomas P. Stafford as Commander, John W. Young as the Command Module Pilot, and Eugene A. Cernan as the Lunar Module Pilot – flew to the Moon and passed within 15.6 km (8.4 nautical miles) of the lunar surface before returning home.

Apollo 11:

On July 16th, 1969, at 13:32:00 UTC (9:32:00 a.m. EDT local time) the historic Apollo 11 mission took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew consisted of Neil Armstrong as the Commander, Michael Collins as the Command Module Pilot), and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin as the Lunar Module Pilot.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plant the US flag on the Lunar Surface during 1st human moonwalk in history 45 years ago on July 20, 1969 during Apollo 1l mission. Credit: NASA
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plant the US flag on the Lunar Surface during the first human moonwalk in history on July 20, 1969. Credit: NASA

On July 19th at 17:21:50 UTC, Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. On the following day, the Lunar Module Eagle separated from the Command Module Columbia, and Armstrong and Aldrin commenced their Lunar descent.

Taking manual control of the Lunar Module, Armstrong brought them down to a landing spot in the Sea of Tranquility, and then announced their arrival by saying: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” After conducting post-landing checks and depressurizing the cabin, Armstrong and Aldrin began descending the ladder to the lunar surface.

When he reached the bottom of the ladder, Armstrong said: “I’m going to step off the LEM now” (Lunar Excursion Module). He then turned and set his left boot on the surface of the Moon at 2:56 UTC July 21st, 1969, and spoke the famous words “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

About 20 minutes after the first step, Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface, and the two men began conducting the planned surface operations. In so doing, they became the first and second humans to set foot on the Moon.

Apollo 12:

Four months later, on November 14th, 1969, the Apollo 12 mission took off from the Kennedy Space Center. Crewed by Commander Charles “Pete” Conrad, Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean and Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon, this mission would be the second time astronauts would walk on the Moon.

Ten days later, the Lunar Module touched down without incident on the southeastern portion of the Ocean of Storms. When Conrad and Bean reached the lunar surface, Bean’s first words were: “Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one step for Neil, but that’s a long one for me.” In the course of conducting a Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs), the two astronauts became the third and fourth men to walk on the Moon.

The crew also brought the first color television camera to film the mission, but transmission was lost after Bean accidentally destroyed the camera by pointing it at the Sun. On one of the two EVAs, the crew visited the Surveyor 3 unmanned probe, which had landed in the Ocean of Storms on April 20th, 1967. The mission ended on November 24th with a successful splashdown.

Pete Conrad descends from the Lunar Module (LM). Credit: NASA
Pete Conrad descends from the Lunar Module (LM). Credit: NASA

Apollo 14:

The Apollo 13 mission was intended to be the third lunar landing; but unfortunately, the explosion of the oxygen tank aboard the Service Module forced the crew to abort the landing. Using the Lunar Module as a “lifeboat”, the crew executed a single loop around the Moon before safely making it back to Earth.

As a result, Apollo 14 would be the third manned mission to the lunar surface, crewed by veteran Alan Shepard (as Commander), Stuart Roosa as Command Module Pilot, and Edgar Mitchell as Lunar Module Pilot. The mission launched on January 31st, 1971 and Shepard and Mitchell made their lunar landing on February 5th in the Fra Mauro formation, which had originally been targeted for the Apollo 13 mission.

During two lunar EVAs, Shepard and Mitchell became the fifth and sixth men to walk on the Moon. They also collected 42 kilograms (93 lb) of Moon rocks and conducted several surface experiments – which including seismic studies. During the 33 hours they spent on the Moon (9½ hours of which were dedicated to EVAs), Shepard famously hit two golf balls on the lunar surface with a makeshift club he had brought from Earth.

Shepard poses next to the American flag on the Moon during Apollo 14. Credit: NASA
Shepard poses next to the American flag on the Moon during Apollo 14. Credit: NASA

Apollo 15:

The seventh and eight men to walk on the Moon were David R. Scott, and James B. Irwin – the Commander and Lunar Module Pilot of the Apollo 15 mission. This mission began on July 26th, 1971, and landed near Hadley rille – in an area of the Mare Imbrium called Palus Putredinus (Marsh of Decay) – on August 7th.

The mission was the first time a crew explored the lunar surface using a Lunar Vehicular Rover (LVR), which allowed them to travel farther and faster from the Lunar Module (LM) than was ever before possible. In the course of conducting multiple EVAs, the crew collected 77 kilograms (170 lb) of lunar surface material.

While in orbit, the crew also deployed a sub-satellite, and used it and the Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) to study the lunar surface with a panoramic camera, a gamma-ray spectrometer, a mapping camera, a laser altimeter, and a mass spectrometer. At the time, NASA hailed the mission as “the most successful manned flight ever achieved.”

Image from Apollo 15, taken by Commander David Scott at the end of EVA-1. Credit: NASA
Image from Apollo 15, taken by Commander David Scott at the end of EVA-1. Credit: NASA

Apollo 16:

It was during the Apollo 16 mission – the penultimate manned lunar mission – that the ninth and tenth men were to walk on the Moon. After launching from the Kennedy Space Center on April 16th, 1972, the mission arrived on the lunar surface by April 21st. Over the course of three days, Commander John Young and Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke conducted three EVAs, totaling 20 hours and 14 minutes on the lunar surface.

The mission was also the second occasion where an LVR was used, and Young and Duke collected 95.8 kilograms (211 lb) of lunar samples for return to Earth, while Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly orbited in the Command/Service Module (CSM) above to perform observations.

Apollo 16’s landing spot in the highlands was chosen to allow the astronauts to gather geologically older lunar material than the samples obtained in the first four landings. Because of this, samples from the Descartes Cayley Formations disproved a hypothesis that the formations were volcanic in origin. The Apollo 16 crew also released a subsatellite from the Service Module before breaking orbit and returning to Earth, making splashdown by April 27th.

John W. Young on the Moon during Apollo 16 mission. Charles M. Duke Jr. took this picture. The LM Orion is on the left. April 21, 1972. Credit: NASA
John W. Young standing next to the LM Orion during the Apollo 16 mission, April 21, 1972. Credit: NASA

Apollo 17:

The last of the Apollo missions, and the final time astronauts would set foot on the moon, began at 12:33 am Eastern Standard Time (EST) on December 7th, 1972. The mission was crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt  – in the roles of Commander, Command Module Pilot and Lunar Module Pilot, respectively.

After reaching the lunar surface, Cernan and Schmitt conducted EVAs and became the eleventh and twelve men to walk on the lunar surface. The mission also broke several records set by previous flights, which included the longest manned lunar landing flight, the longest total lunar surface extravehicular activities, the largest lunar sample return, and the longest time in lunar orbit.

While Evans remained in lunar orbit above in the Command/Service Module (CSM), Cernan and Schmitt spent just over three days on the lunar surface in the Taurus–Littrow valley, conducting three periods of extra-vehicular activity with an LRV, collecting lunar samples and deploying scientific instruments. Cernan, After an approximately 12 day mission, Evans, and Schmitt returned to Earth.

Astronaut Eugene pollo 17 mission, 11 December 1972. Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander, makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV)
Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 mission, using a Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) for an EVA on December 11th 1972. Credit: NASA

Apollo 17 remains the most recent manned Moon mission and also the last time humans have traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Until such time as astronauts begin to go to the Moon again (or manned missions are made to Mars) these twelve men – Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Charles “Pete” Conrad, Alan L. Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David R. Scott, James B. Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, and Harrison Schmitt – will remain the only human beings to ever walk on a celestial body other than Earth.

Universe today has many interesting articles on the Moon, such as the First Man On The Moon, The Most Famous Astronauts, and articles on Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Alan Shepard.

You should also check out the Moon landing and 35th anniversary of the Moon landing.

Astronomy Cast has a three part series on the Moon.

Reference:
NASA Apollo 11

Posted on by Matt Williams

What is Lunar Regolith?

A boot print on the lunar regolith. Credit: NASA.

When you’re walking around on soft ground, do you notice how your feet leave impressions? Perhaps you’ve tracked some of the looser earth in your yard into the house on occasion? If you were to pick up some of these traces – what we refer to as dirt or soil – and examine them beneath a microscope, what would you see?

Essentially, you would be seeing the components of what is known as regolith, which is a collection of particles of dust, soil, broken rock, and other materials found here on Earth. But interestingly enough, this same basic material can be found in other terrestrial environments as well – including the Moon, Mars, other planets, and even asteroids.

Definition:

The term regolith refers to any layer of material covering solid rock, which can come in the form of dust, soil or broken rock. The word is derived from the combination of two Greek words – rhegos (which means “blanket”) and lithos (which means “rock).

Earth:

On Earth, regolith takes the form of dirt, soil, sand, and other components that are formed as a result of natural weathering and biological processes. Due to a combination of erosion, alluvial deposits (i.e. moving water deposing sand), volcanic eruptions, or tectonic activity, the material is slowly ground down and laid out over solid bedrock.

central Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia.
Picture of Mt Magnet in the Central Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia, which dates to the Precambrian Era. Credit: geomorphologie.revues.org

It can be made up of clays, silicates, various minerals, groundwater, and organic molecules. Regolith on Earth can vary from being essentially absent to being hundreds of meters thick. Its can also be very young (in the form of ash, alluvium, or lava rock that was just deposited) to hundreds of millions of years old (regolith dating to the Precambrian age occurs in parts of Australia).

On Earth, the presence of regolith is one of the important factors for most life, since few plants can grow on or within solid rock and animals would be unable to burrow or build shelter without loose material. Regolith is also important for human beings since it has been used since the dawn of civilization (in the form of mud bricks, concrete and ceramics) to build houses, roads, and other civil works.

The difference in terminology between “soil” (aka. dirt, mud, etc.) and “sand” is the presence of organic materials. In the former, it exists in abundance, and is what separates regolith on Earth from most other terrestrial environments in our Solar System.

The Moon:

The surface of the Moon is covered with a fine powdery material that scientists refer to it as “lunar regolith”. Nearly the entire lunar surface is covered with regolith, and bedrock is only visible on the walls of very steep craters.

Earth viewed from the Moon by the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Credit: NASA
Earth viewed from the Moon by the Apollo 11 spacecraft, across a sea of lunar soil. Credit: NASA

The Moon regolith was formed over billions of years by constant meteorite impacts on the surface of the Moon. Scientists estimate that the lunar regolith extends down 4-5 meters in some places, and even as deep as 15 meters in the older highland areas.

When the plans were put together for the Apollo missions, some scientists were concerned that the lunar regolith would be too light and powdery to support the weight of the lunar lander. Instead of landing on the surface, they were worried that the lander would just sink down into it like a snowbank.

However, landings performed by robotic Surveyor spacecraft showed that the lunar soil was firm enough to support a spacecraft, and astronauts later explained that the surface of the Moon felt very firm beneath their feet. During the Apollo landings, the astronauts often found it necessary to use a hammer to drive a core sampling tool into it.

Once astronauts reached the surface, they reported that the fine moon dust stuck to their spacesuits and then dusted the inside of the lunar lander. The astronauts also claimed that it got into their eyes, making them red; and worse, even got into their lungs, giving them coughs. Lunar dust is very abrasive, and has been noted for its ability to wear down spacesuits and electronics.

Alan Bean Takes Lunar Soil Sample
Alan Bean takes a sample of lunar regolith during the Apollo 12 mission. Credit: NASA

The reason for this is because lunar regolith is sharp and jagged. This is due to the fact that the Moon has no atmosphere or flowing water on it, and hence no natural weathering process. When the micro-meteoroids slammed into the surface and created all the particles, there was no process for wearing down its sharp edges.

The term lunar soil is often used interchangeably with “lunar regolith”, but some have argued that the term “soil” is not correct because it is defined as having organic content. However, standard usage among lunar scientists tends to ignore that distinction. “Lunar dust” is also used, but mainly to refer to even finer materials than lunar soil.

As NASA is working on plans to send humans back to the Moon in the coming years, researchers are working to learn the best ways to work with the lunar regolith. Future colonists could mine minerals, water, and even oxygen out of the lunar soil, and use it to manufacture bases with as well.

Mars:

Landers and rovers that have been sent to Mars by NASA, the Russians and the ESA have returned many interesting photographs, showing a landscape that is covered with vast expanses of sand and dust, as well as rocks and boulders.

A successful scoop of Martian regolith (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute)
A successful scoop of Martian regolith performed by NASA’s Phoenix lander. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute

Compared to lunar regolith, Mars dust is very fine and enough remains suspended in the atmosphere to give the sky a reddish hue. The dust is occasionally picked up in vast planet-wide dust storms, which are quite slow due to the very low density of the atmosphere.

The reason why Martian regolith is so much finer than that found on the Moon is attributed to the flowing water and river valleys that once covered its surface. Mars researchers are currently studying whether or not martian regolith is still being shaped in the present epoch as well.

It is believed that large quantities of water and carbon dioxide ices remain frozen within the regolith, which would be of use if and when manned missions (and even colonization efforts) take place in the coming decades.

Mars moon of Deimos is also covered by a layer of regolith that is estimated to be 50 meters (160 feet) thick. Images provided by the Viking 2 orbiter confirmed its presence from a height of 30 km (19 miles) above the moon’s surface.

Asteroids and Outer Solar System:

The only other planet in our Solar System that is known to have regolith is Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. The surface is known for its extensive fields of dunes, though the precise origin of them are not known. Some scientists have suggested that they may be small fragments of water ice eroded by Titan’s liquid methane, or possibly particulate organic matter that formed in Titan’s atmosphere and rained down on the surface.

Another possibility is that a series of powerful wind reversals, which occur twice during a single Saturn year (30 Earth years), are responsible for forming these dunes, which measure several hundred meters high and stretch across hundreds of kilometers.  Currently, Earth scientists are still not certain what Titan’s regolith is composed of.

Data returned by the Huygens Probe’s penetrometer indicated that the surface may be clay-like, but long-term analysis of the data has suggested that it may be composed of sand-like ice grains.  The images taken by the probe upon landing on the moon’s surface show a flat plain covered in rounded pebbles, which may be made of water ice, and suggest the action of moving fluids on them.

Asteroids have been observed to have regolith on their surfaces as well. These are the result of meteoriod impacts that have taken place over the course of millions of years, pulverizing their surfaces and creating dust and tiny particles that are carried within the craters.

False color picture of Eros' 5.3-kilometer (3.3-mile) surface crater, showing regolith inside. Credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL
False color picture taken by NASA’s NEAR Shoemaker camera of Eros’ 5.3-kilometer (3.3-mile) surface crater, showing the presence of regolith inside. Credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL

NASA’s NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft produced evidence of regolith on the surface of the asteroid 433 Eros, which remains the best images of asteroid regolith to date. Additional evidence has been provided by JAXA’s Hayabusa mission, which returned clear images of regolith on an asteroid that was thought to be too small to hold onto it.

Images provided by the Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (OSIRIS) cameras on board the Rosetta Spacecraft confirmed that the asteroid 21 Lutetia has a layer of regolith near its north pole, which was seen to flow in major landslides associated with variations in the asteriod’s albedo.

To break it down succinctly, wherever there is rock, there is likely to be regolith. Whether it is the product of wind or flowing water, or the presence of meteors impacting the surface, good old fashioned “dirt” can be found just about anywhere in our Solar System; and most likely, in the universe beyond…

We’ve done several articles about the Moon’s regolith here on Universe Today. Here’s a way astronauts might be able to extract water from lunar regolith with simple kitchen appliances, and an article about NASA’s search for a lunar digger.

Want to buy some lunar regolith simulant? Here’s a site that lets you buy it. Do you want to be a Moon miner? There’s lots of good metal in that lunar regolith.

You can listen to a very interesting podcast about the formation of the Moon from Astronomy Cast, Episode 17: Where Did the Moon Come From?

Reference:
NASA

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

How Many People Have Walked on the Moon?

Astronaut Charles Duke collecting samples during Apollo 16. Credit: NASA.
Astronaut Charles Duke collecting samples during Apollo 16. Credit: NASA.

Ask someone if they know the names of the astronauts who have walked on the Moon, and most people would be able to list Neil Armstrong, and maybe even Buzz Aldrin. But can you name the rest of the Apollo astronauts who made it down to the lunar surface? How many people have walked on the Moon?

In total twelve people have walked on the Moon. Besides Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin – who were the first two astronauts to leave their bootprints on the Moon — there were also Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, and Harrison Schmitt.

Interestingly, out of the dozen people who walked on the Moon, no one ever did it more than once.

Here’s some additional information about the men who walked on the Moon and their missions:
Continue reading “How Many People Have Walked on the Moon?”

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Documentary: A Look Back at the Apollo Missions

If you’ve got a spare 45 minutes and want to take a look back at the Apollo missions to the Moon, this documentary, ‘Journey To The Moon: The Apollo Story’ is well worth it. The film chronicles the Apollo program from its inception in 1961 through Apollo 11’s successful moon landing to the final mission, Apollo 17, which took place 39 years ago this week. You’ll see original footage (and those simple 1960’s era animations that showed how lunar orbit insertion and rendezvous and docking would work) and hear from the astronauts themselves.

Continue reading “Documentary: A Look Back at the Apollo Missions”

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Apollo Data Retooled to Provide Precise Readings on Moon’s Core

A new look at old data has given scientists more insight into the Moon's core. Credit: Science

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A new look at data from seismic experiments left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts has given researchers a better understanding of the lunar interior. The Moon’s core appears to be very similar to the Earth’s — with a solid inner core and molten liquid outer core — and its size is right in the middle of previous estimates.

“While the presence of a liquid core had previously been inferred from other geophysical measurements, we have made the first direct seismic observation of a liquid outer core,” said Dr. Renee Weber, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, who led the team of researchers.

Apollo Passive Seismic Experiment from Apollo 15. Credit: NASA

The Apollo Passive Seismic Experiment measured seismic waves on the Moon and consisted of four seismometers deployed on the lunar near side during the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972. The instruments continuously recorded ground motion until late-1977. But the data was thought to be rather weak because of the small number of stations, the lack of observation of far-side events, and interference from “moon quakes.” As this was the only direct measurements from the Moon available, various researchers differed on key characteristics such as the core’s radius, composition, and state (i.e., whether it was solid or molten.)

“The moon’s deepest interior, especially whether or not it has a core, has been a blind spot for seismologists,” said Ed Garnero, a professor at Arizona State University and a member of the research team. “The seismic data from the old Apollo missions were too noisy to image the moon with any confidence.”

Weber and her colleagues re-analyzed the Apollo data using a method usually used for processing seismic data on Earth. Called array processing, seismic recordings are added together or “stacked” in a special way and studied together. The multiple recordings processed together allow researchers to extract very faint signals. The depth of layers that reflect seismic energy can be identified, ultimately signifying the composition and state of matter at varying depths.

This method can enhance faint, hard-to-detect seismic signals by adding seismograms together.

“If seismic wave energy goes down and bounces off of some deep interface at a particular depth, like the Moon’s core-mantle boundary, then that signal “echo” should be present in all the recordings, even if below the background noise level,” said Patty Lin, a postdoctoral candidate at ASU and another member of the team. “But when we add the signals together, that core reflection amplitude becomes visible, which lets us map the deep Moon.”

Weber told Universe Today that the shear waves do not penetrate fluid regions. “So while we have observed compression reflections off the solid inner core, we have not (as expected) observed shear reflections off the inner core, since that energy is reflected at the outer core layer.”

Recent studies suggested the Moon had a relatively small iron-rich core, sized between about 250 and 430 km, or roughly 15 to 25% of its 1,737.1 km mean radius. The new measurements put the core slightly larger.
“We have placed the core-mantle boundary at a radius of 330 km, roughly 19% of the Moon’s mean radius,” Weber said in an email.

The iron-rich core has a solid inner ball nearly 240 km (150 miles) in radius, and an 90 km (55-mile) thick outer fluid shell.

The new research also points to volatile-depleted interior, with the lunar core containing a small percentage of light elements such as sulfur, similar to light elements in Earth’s core – sulfur, oxygen and others.

The retooled 30-year-old data also appears to confirm the the leading theory of how the Moon formed.

“The presence of a melt layer and a molten outer core supports the widely-accepted large-impact model of lunar formation, which predicts that the Moon could have formed in a completely molten state,” Weber said.