From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4@msn.com)
Date: Tue Jun 18 2002 - 09:04:48 PDT
----- Original Message -----
From: Larry Kellogg
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2002 8:28 PM
To: lunar-update@lists.arc.nasa.gov
Cc: lkellogg@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Subject: Moon mysteries by Sharon J. Huntington - Christian ScienceMonitor
Good day all.
Just got back to the office (quitting time) from helping conduct a
tour of some of the facilities here at Ames for some 20 high school
students that participated in a "Space Settlement Design Contest"
http://www.belmont.k12.ca.us/ralston/programs/itech/SpaceSettlement/Contest/index.html
and found this article suggested by Dave Lozier, so I e-mailed it to
myself and copied it for you folks to look at.
I am wondering if you would like to consider what it might take to
set up shop on the Moon, say at the South Pole. Do you have any
questions or suggestions about what you might want me to look for and
share with the lunar-update list?
We aren't there (yet) but if we were, what would you have to know to
make it happen?
This is a lunar-update list. Do you want me to ferret out some
updates and if so, do you want a suspense novel or bare facts? Do
you want a love story or a murder mystery? :-)
Do you want to be entertained or educated? hmmmmmmmm
Read the story below and if you care to do some brain storming,, send
me your thoughts, I shall try and tune in. - LRK -
Enjoy.
Larry
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_________________________________________________________________________
lkellogg@mail.arc.nasa.gov has recommended this article from
The Christian Science Monitor's electronic edition.
Thanks
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Headline: Moon mysteries
Byline: Sharon J. Huntington
Date: 06/18/2002
It was the moon that helped to tell us why dinosaurs disappeared.
Scientists studied how impacts might have caused the craters on the
moon. Their research helped others theorize how a huge rock crashing
into the Earth might have wiped out many forms of life here, including
the dinosaurs.
Paul Spudis is a staff scientist and deputy director of the Lunar and
Planetary Institute in Houston. He says he feels we still have a lot to
learn from the moon.
"Exploring space means opening up thought and imagination," Mr. Spudis
says. "We start thinking in new ways and finding solutions to problems
here on Earth." He hopes we will decide to go back to the moon soon to
learn more.
The moon has been associated with mysterious powers, "green"
(unripened) cheese, romance, and alien invaders. Humans have long
speculated about its nature and origin. Many early people believed gods
lived on the moon or that the moon itself was a god. What else could
explain the fact that we saw only one side of it?
The reason we see only one side is that the moon circles the Earth in
the same amount of time it takes to rotate on its axis (29-1/2 days).
But while the same side always faces us, all parts of the moon face the
sun at different times. The moon does have a "far side," which we can
never see from the Earth. But it does not have a "dark side" that never
gets sunlight. (By the way, you can get a good look at a full moon on
June 24.)
We see phases of the moon because sometimes the sunlit side is facing
us (a full moon), sometimes only part of the side facing us is lit
(gibbous and half moons), and sometimes the side facing us receives
almost no light at all (new moon). (See diagram on facing page.)
When Galileo created his first telescope and looked at the moon in
1610, a better study of the moon's surface began. As telescopes
improved, so did our maps and understanding of the moon's craters and
its "seas" (or maria, in Latin). We know now that these aren't watery
oceans but lava-filled plains. Our new knowledge helped refine theories
about the moon's origin.
In his book, "The Once and Future moon" (1996), Spudis discusses some
common theories and how exploration has helped us narrow down the
possibilities.
Some thought the moon broke off from the Earth early in its formation
and was trapped in orbit. Others said the moon was a galactic wanderer
that came close enough to the Earth to be captured by its gravity.
Another theory proposed that a huge rock crashed into the Earth
knocking a chunk of it loose that formed into the moon. (This is
sometimes called the "big whack" theory.)
When the Apollo astronauts went to the moon, we learned a lot more
about its composition. The astronauts left seismographs to measure
"moonquakes" and laser reflectors that are still in use. They bounce
back laser pulses sent from Earth.
The rocks the astronauts brought back helped determine the age of the
moon. They also hinted that the moon had an ocean of magma early in its
history. These and other discoveries helped point scientists toward the
"big whack" model. More research is needed to say for sure. Lunar
research has also given us insights into the Earth, the solar system,
and the universe.
So when are we going back to the moon to learn more? Will there ever be
colonies there? NASA has no specific plans for moon missions, but it is
exploring many possibilities. One is a lunar outpost where scientists
could study the moon and the universe and possibly mine elements needed
on Earth.
How would you design such an outpost? Consider these factors:
Air: The moon has no air. If you want to breathe, you'll have to bring
a supply of air or manufacture it from elements on the moon. It's very
expensive to fly anything from Earth, so you'll probably want to find a
way to make your own air on the moon.
Food: There's no food on the moon either. But there are basic elements
that make up food, including nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and potassium.
Could they be used to supply nutrition or breathable air?
Water: The only water on the moon is in the form of ice. Ice has been
detected near both lunar poles. Oxygen could be manufactured from water.
Power: There's plenty of solar power, as long as you're facing the sun.
But you'll be in the sun only half the time unless you put your base
near one of the poles. A mountain peak at the moon's south pole is so
tall that it gets sunlight all year.
Radiation: The universe is filled with radioactivity, which scientists
say is harmful to human life. Earth's atmosphere protects us from this
cosmic radiation. But you would want radiation shielding at a lunar
outpost. One possibility is to dig below the moon's surface and build
the outpost under a couple of meters of rock. Water can also be an
effective radiation shield, if it's deep enough.
The astronauts who explored the moon had no special radiation
shielding, but they were only in space for a week to 10 days. Such
short stays are considered safe.
Gravity: The moon is about 2,155 miles across, one-quarter the size of
Earth. It has only one-sixth the gravity. If you weigh 60 pounds on
Earth, you'd weigh only 10 pounds on the moon. This may sound like fun,
but scientists aren't sure what the health effects might be. Exercise
may be key.
Location: An outpost on the side facing the Earth would be able to
communicate easily with the home planet. But if you want to study the
stars, a base on the far side would be free from all the "light
pollution" of Earth. Radiotelescopes could also operate there, away
from the "noise" of radio and TV signals.
More: A lunar outpost would give humans opportunities to explore the
moon, mine its minerals, get a clearer view of the universe, and help
us learn more about living in space. What other activities would you
plan at your lunar outpost? How would the people there carry them out?
Would robots or remote-control machines play a role?
Sketch your own lunar outpost and describe how it would function.
Perhaps someday you can compare your idea to the real thing.
Do you know of a 'moon tree' near you?
When Apollo 14 went to the moon in February 1971, Stuart Roosa was the
command-module pilot. He orbited the moon while Alan Shepard and Edgar
Mitchell explored the surface. Roosa, a former "smoke jumper" (a
firefighter who parachutes in to fight forest fires), took some 450
tree seeds with him on the flight. When he returned to Earth, the seeds
were planted. The loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and
Douglas fir trees became known as "moon trees."
These trees were sent all over the world as a living monuments to the
Apollo program and to Roosa, who died in 1994. But no complete list was
kept of where all the trees were sent. Information on known trees and
their locations can be found at this website:
nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_tree.html. But if you know of
a moon tree that's not on the list, NASA would like to hear from you.
Send your message to dwilliam@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov.
Lunar websites
You can find stories, puzzles, and moon information at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tothemoon/.
Learn about lunar explorations, Apollo missions, and 'moon trees' at:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/
Check out moon maps, pictures of the moon, and quizzes at:
www.moonphases.com/
(note: I don't see that the above works but this might
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html - LRK)
See views of the moon as it looks through binoculars, telescopes, and
from space at:
http://www.fys.ruu.nl/~zagers/maan/eng/maan.html
Why the moon has phases
The moon takes 29-1/2 days to go around the Earth. The phases of the
moon are the result of our observing the moon in different parts of its
orbit.
The sun always shines on half the moon, just as it shines on half the
Earth. (See diagram below.) Because we can see only the side of the
moon that's facing Earth, it appears that the moon is only partly lit
sometimes. That's because we can't see all of the lit-up half of the
moon.
The moon rises and sets at different times during the month, but don't
be fooled: It's the Earth turning, not the moon orbiting, that's most
responsible for moonrise and moonset. We spin past the moon much faster
than it orbits around us.
One more thing: The moon turns on its axis once every 29-1/2 days, too.
That's why we always see the same side of it.
(c) Copyright 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.
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If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to write to
my Ames e-mail at
lkellogg@mail.arc.nasa.gov
You just might see some of it re-appear here, so beware. :->
Larry Kellogg
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK
http://home.mindspring.com/~larrykellogg
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