OMEN
09-20-2006, 07:53 AM
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Scientific missions to the moon should concentrate on sampling its thin atmosphere and on examining as much of the lunar surface as possible, the National Research Council advised on Tuesday.
Human explorers should use robots and orbiters to help them scour the moon's surface, atmosphere and craters for clues about how our solar system formed and how life came about, the Council's Space Studies Board said.
"I think we are in for a renaissance of lunar research," said Marc Allen, director for strategic scientific planning at the US space agency, in a telephone interview.
More than 30 years after people last visited the moon, research has been limited. But several countries are now planning missions, including Japan, China, India and the European Space Agency.
"The participation of other nations in lunar exploration is a fact. Coordinated and cooperative international activities would benefit all participants," said the report by the National Research Council.
The council is one of the National Academies of Science, the independent research groups set up to advise the federal government on science, engineering and health.
"The moon is, above all, a witness to 4.5 billion years of solar system history, and it has recorded that history more completely and more clearly than any other planetary body. Nowhere else can we see back with such clarity to the time when Earth and the other terrestrial planets were formed," it adds.
"Only by returning to the moon to carry out new scientific explorations can we hope to close the gaps in our understanding and learn the secrets that the moon alone has kept for eons."
NASA's Vision for Space Exploration calls for humans to return to the moon by the end of the next decade, after completing the International Space Station and retiring the shuttle fleet by 2010.
The space shuttle Atlantis is currently wrapping up the latest visit to the station, run jointly with Russia.
Pristine State
The moon has little atmosphere and little or no geologic activity, and thus every asteroid, meteor or piece of space debris to hit it has left remnants virtually undisturbed.
It will be important to study the atmosphere while it is pristine, before explorers start to affect it, said George Paulikas, a retired executive at the non-profit Aerospace Corporation in California.
"One has to understand it and characterize it because when we start landing ... there will be some changes in that very tenuous and delicate atmosphere," Paulikas said in a telephone interview.
As for the surface, the moon's south pole is a very good place to start exploration, the report recommends.
"As the oldest and largest basin in the solar system, the south pole-Aitken Basin on the moon is a unique location," the report reads. But many diverse sites need to be sampled.
Scientists should agree on which instruments to use, such as seismometers and thermal profilers, the report advised.
The US Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is due for launch in 2008 to create high-resolution maps, seek landing sites, and continue to search for water ice.
The report recommends more such efforts and other useful resources such as robot rovers, which have been successful in studying Mars.
And, the moon provides a perfect perch for astronomers and other scientists studying the sun, Earth and other planets.
"There's a lot to be done and the only thing that we worry about is the NASA budget is limited," Paulikas said.
Reuters
Scientific missions to the moon should concentrate on sampling its thin atmosphere and on examining as much of the lunar surface as possible, the National Research Council advised on Tuesday.
Human explorers should use robots and orbiters to help them scour the moon's surface, atmosphere and craters for clues about how our solar system formed and how life came about, the Council's Space Studies Board said.
"I think we are in for a renaissance of lunar research," said Marc Allen, director for strategic scientific planning at the US space agency, in a telephone interview.
More than 30 years after people last visited the moon, research has been limited. But several countries are now planning missions, including Japan, China, India and the European Space Agency.
"The participation of other nations in lunar exploration is a fact. Coordinated and cooperative international activities would benefit all participants," said the report by the National Research Council.
The council is one of the National Academies of Science, the independent research groups set up to advise the federal government on science, engineering and health.
"The moon is, above all, a witness to 4.5 billion years of solar system history, and it has recorded that history more completely and more clearly than any other planetary body. Nowhere else can we see back with such clarity to the time when Earth and the other terrestrial planets were formed," it adds.
"Only by returning to the moon to carry out new scientific explorations can we hope to close the gaps in our understanding and learn the secrets that the moon alone has kept for eons."
NASA's Vision for Space Exploration calls for humans to return to the moon by the end of the next decade, after completing the International Space Station and retiring the shuttle fleet by 2010.
The space shuttle Atlantis is currently wrapping up the latest visit to the station, run jointly with Russia.
Pristine State
The moon has little atmosphere and little or no geologic activity, and thus every asteroid, meteor or piece of space debris to hit it has left remnants virtually undisturbed.
It will be important to study the atmosphere while it is pristine, before explorers start to affect it, said George Paulikas, a retired executive at the non-profit Aerospace Corporation in California.
"One has to understand it and characterize it because when we start landing ... there will be some changes in that very tenuous and delicate atmosphere," Paulikas said in a telephone interview.
As for the surface, the moon's south pole is a very good place to start exploration, the report recommends.
"As the oldest and largest basin in the solar system, the south pole-Aitken Basin on the moon is a unique location," the report reads. But many diverse sites need to be sampled.
Scientists should agree on which instruments to use, such as seismometers and thermal profilers, the report advised.
The US Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is due for launch in 2008 to create high-resolution maps, seek landing sites, and continue to search for water ice.
The report recommends more such efforts and other useful resources such as robot rovers, which have been successful in studying Mars.
And, the moon provides a perfect perch for astronomers and other scientists studying the sun, Earth and other planets.
"There's a lot to be done and the only thing that we worry about is the NASA budget is limited," Paulikas said.
Reuters