The new head of the European Space Agency offers humanity a grandiose plan - to build a "lunar village".
Professor Johann-Dietrich Werner has been serving as CEO of the European Space Agency (ESA) for just a few weeks. The former chairman of the executive board of the German Aerospace Center DLR is now in charge of all ESA programs, an organization with an annual budget of 4.4 billion euros.
Its economy includes new European reconnaissance, meteorological, navigation and communication satellites, flights of European astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), expeditions to Mars, Mercury and Jupiter, as well as the Philae landing module on the surface of the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet.
As I ask Werner about his intentions in his new position, I expect to hear the traditional response about the economic and social benefits of space exploration - or, let's say, the importance of studying the universe. But the plans of my interlocutor turn out to be much more ambitious and daring.
“You need to look to the future,” he tells me. “We need a small spacecraft in low Earth orbit to study microgravity. In addition, I propose to establish a settlement on the far side of the moon."
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Moon settlement - nothing more, nothing less
The base on the far side of the moon could include a telescope to observe distant regions of space
It was thanks to this decisive attitude of NASA in the 1966s. managed in a short time to implement the program of manned flights to the moon. However, the current plans of the American space agency are much more modest - probably, the restraining influence of the country's political leadership affects.
“By lunar settlement, I don't mean just a village of several houses with a church and city hall,” explains Werner. "The project should involve partners from all over the world, contributing in the form of automatic and manned expeditions and ensuring communication with the Earth using automatic stations."
3D printer
There are good reasons for mankind's return to the moon, Werner said - there are both immediate benefits for science and the possibility of using the satellite as a springboard for subsequent studies of the solar system.
“The far side of the moon is very interesting in the sense that we could place telescopes there to observe the distant regions of the universe and study the moon itself,” he says. - The international aspect of this project is no less important. The Americans are going to fly to Mars soon, but before going to the Red Planet, it is necessary to work out technologies on the Moon."
The lunar colony could become a testing ground for the technology needed for an expedition to Mars
So, according to Werner, the technology of building a Martian base with the help of a giant three-dimensional printer, which NASA is trying on, it would be wise to test it on the Moon first.
On any distant planet, earthlings will have to learn to survive in harsh conditions, but if the first extraterrestrial settlement is only four days of summer from the Earth, and not six months, this task will be much easier - especially in emergencies.
Werner's Lunar Village should become a multinational settlement for astronauts, Russian cosmonauts, and perhaps even Chinese taikonauts. Thus, the project implies significantly broader international cooperation in comparison with the ISS program.
“We will need unlimited cooperation with any country in the world,” says Werner. - There are plenty of problems and conflicts between states on Earth. Joint space exploration could put an end to the differences, and the lunar settlement project seems to be a very suitable occasion.
He continues:
“It would be wrong to isolate any country. A much better solution would be cooperation in space to strengthen relations between peoples on Earth."
Apparently, this remark contains a veiled criticism of the US refusal to cooperate with China in space exploration.
“If aliens came to us and saw what we were doing here, I'm not at all sure that they would want to contact us,” adds Werner.
Is the moon in fashion again?
For those who criticize the waste of money from national budgets on space programs and astronomical research, Werner has a strong rebuke in store.
“Practice shows that there is no barrier between science and everyday life,” he says. - Take the greenhouse effect - everyone knows what it is, and now we are exploring this phenomenon using satellites. However, it was first discovered not on Earth, but during an automatic expedition to Venus."
NASA is not currently planning any missions to the moon
So far, the lunar village is not even a project, but just an idea. No country, no national space agency is going to immediately invest in it. There is no detailed concept of such a settlement either.
However, interest in returning humans to the moon is undoubtedly growing. For example, BBC Future recently asked experts to predict what the next decade of space exploration will be like. All noted that the Moon will be one of the priority areas.
Werner notes that his idea of a lunar settlement is a way to stimulate discussion about the future of space exploration and the possibilities of using space technology. "I would be very happy if someone comes up with a better idea," he tells me.
Nevertheless, the position of the head of ESA is one of the most senior and respected in the space industry, so there is no doubt that Werner's proposal will be taken seriously.
NASA has not yet decided where to send its new manned spacecraft Orion - which, by the way, includes an ESA service module. The moon might be a suitable object.
“Human nature is such that we are interested in more than just the practical applications of scientific advances,” says Werner. "We love being pioneers, and that's what lies at the heart of progress."
