The last time a man was on the moon was in 1972, which is more than four decades ago. During this time, we have learned a lot about the natural satellite of our planet. Various spacecraft that have traveled to the Moon have found it to be a large, barren space boulder that has a terrible environment.
Over the past 40 years, we have learned that, despite such dramatic differences between the Earth and the Moon, there is something in common between them. And knowledge of these common features will one day help us figure out how you can colonize this satellite.
After the Apollo missions
The moon is a huge cobblestone with a diameter of about 3,500 kilometers. During the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972, 12 American astronauts stepped on the surface of the moon. As part of these missions, more than 380 kilograms of various lunar samples were delivered to Earth. Through the analysis of these samples, science has found that the composition of the moon is similar to that of the earth. In addition, based on scientific analyzes of the lunar rock, scientists were able to suggest the possible nature of the moon. According to one of the most popular theories, about 4.5 billion years ago, a cosmic body the size of Mars hit the Earth tangentially. The resulting debris filled the orbit of our planet and formed its natural satellite.
Unfortunately, after the Apollo missions, interest in the Moon dropped sharply and the study of this cosmic body was not engaged until the 90s. Later, thanks to the spacecraft "Clementine" and "Lunar Prospector", which discovered ice on the moon, it was suggested that the moon, like the earth, is (or could be) water. In the 2000s, interest in the moon increased. She was immediately interested in Europe, Japan, China and India.
First of all, the researchers were interested in the secret dark side of the satellite, which is always turned away from our planet. However, the idea of sending people to the moon was soon abandoned. Instead, it was suggested that robots be sent to do the bulk of the work and do the research. After all, despite some similarities, the Earth and the Moon are completely different worlds. This is why scientists want robots to be the first to colonize a satellite.
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Robots will help
So, we decided to send a man to the moon. The last time humanity did this was in the 70s, during the days of typewriters and "Pong". We now live in a world with video calls and maglev trains. Are we really incapable of sending a man to the moon? What is the problem?
And the problem, or rather the problem, is as follows. There is no air on the moon. Very low gravity. There is almost no atmosphere. The daily temperature there can drop from +123 degrees Celsius to -198 degrees Celsius. Micrometeorites fall on the moon every day. And since there is no atmosphere, radiation will pass through a person like a knife through butter. After all, the situation on Earth is now such that political and financial problems may sooner or later threaten even sending a person into orbit of the planet, not to mention the Moon.
In addition, the problem of regolith has not been canceled. Never heard of regolith? This is the kind of dust that makes up a 65-kilometer crust of the lunar surface, covered with other rocks and stones. It is very dangerous not only for technology, but also for humans.
Ultimately, the task of human settlement on the moon will require the construction of infrastructure. This will take a very long time, projects will be constantly postponed, and many promises will not be kept. When you try to build something on a giant desert rock located 387,000 kilometers from your home, the bureaucratic delays reach a whole new and unprecedented level. In short, there are a lot of problems. Therefore, it is easier to send robots to the moon.
Robots have already been sent to the moon. The first to do this was the Soviet Union in 1970. However, many understand that the Moon is the most attainable target in terms of human space exploration, so the debate about why the world does not resume manned flights there, instead of sending robots, does not subside for a day.
“Arguments about who is better to send to the moon - a human or a robot - are often very emotional,” writes the MoonZoo.org website.
“With the miniaturization of electronics, sending robotic probes will always be cheaper and safer than sending a manned spacecraft. However, many people believe that the whole point of space programs is precisely human participation."
Rover Yuytu explores the lunar surface
Nevertheless, space agencies around the world continue to ignore or postpone the possibility of human missions to the moon and choose robots in this case. China, for example, in 2013 sent the Yuytu lunar rover to the satellite. Rover has amassed a wealth of new and useful information, including information that indicates that lunar volcanoes over the past 3 billion years have actually been more active than previously thought.
In 2010, Japan announced that it was going to build a robotic lunar base by 2020. For these purposes, $ 2 billion was allocated. However, progress in this matter is not visible at all. And more recently, representatives of the Japanese space agency JAXA generally stated that they "currently have no plans to send robots to explore the moon," but the agency wants to send a space probe to the moon by 2020.
Thanks to the robots already there, we received useful information about the "relationship" between the Earth and the Moon. However, progress is not moving as fast as we would like. Lunar missions became uninteresting also for the reason that space agencies have more ambitious and at the same time more romantic plans - plans for Mars.
And yet, if we do go to the moon, how can we guarantee the success of the planned missions and colonization? Commonly, what do we need for this?
What do we need to start life on the moon?
How to send a person to the moon? How to get the opportunity to stay there? It only takes one key thing. The same thing that we need to survive on Earth. The answer will hardly surprise you. On the Moon, as well as on Earth, we need the most important "elixir of life" - water.
At least that's what Dr. Paul Spudis of the Institute for Planetary Science and Lunar Science in Houston thinks. This man is one of the biggest supporters of the idea of colonizing the Moon, at one time he was the head of the Clementine space mission at NASA, and also an adviser to the Indian space agency in the project of radar mapping of the lunar surface.
Spoudis believes that billions of metric tons of water could be hidden beneath the satellite's surface. And this water is as important there as it is on Earth.
“It can be drunk, used as a shield against cosmic radiation, used for food and sanitary purposes, and produced oxygen for breathing from it,” says the scientist.
“Water is the most useful substance in space. What's the problem? The problem is finding the most suitable way to find it and get it on the moon,”continues Spudis.
In order to do this, we (to begin with robots) need to conduct many lunar experiments. Find out, for example, what is the nature of the lunar poles. Find out where this water is stored. We can answer these questions with the help of robots: a pair of ground rovers, like the same Curiosity on Mars, will be enough for this. Robotic lunar rovers will be able to measure temperatures, mountain ranges, analyze surface properties, and measure ice volumes on the Moon. Once we can get a source of water on the moon, progress in its development will go much faster.
We need water and oxygen to survive. And the main task for scientists is where to find it and how to get it on the moon. Remember we talked about regolith above? It contains 42 percent oxygen. If we can extract oxygen from the regolith and combine it with hydrogen, then access to water will be only one step away. In addition, the extracted oxygen can be used for breathing. And also - to use it in rocket fuel. The task, however, is more difficult: in this case, the regolith will have to be heated to 900 degrees Celsius.
Apart from the air and water issues, some believe that we can populate the moon in the same way as our ancient ancestors once did on Earth. As on Earth, there are many caves on the Moon. Can they be used for life? NASA, for example, is considering colonizing lunar caves, considering them excellent protection against radiation and meteorite threats.
Why do we need this moon at all?
Considering earthly problems - all these threats of global warming, growing social inequality, political conflicts and wars, hunger, disease, terrorists and much more - why should we waste time trying to colonize space? And why exactly the Moon? Sometimes it seems that this choice is so unclear and that for the purpose it is better to choose the same Mars (and its own moons).
Colonizing Mars does seem to make more sense, as this planet is more like Earth than the Moon. However, the Moon offers us several advantages. The most obvious of these is distance. If any serious catastrophe occurs in the lunar colony, then aid will be "only" 387,000 kilometers away. As for Mars, it will take about 7 months to fly in one direction only.
While many are turning their gaze towards Mars (and beyond), we should shift our gaze to cosmic bodies located closer to us. Send several rovers to the moon with specific missions to find water and eventually resume manned flights there. And even if we cannot live there - Mars seems to be a more suitable place in this regard - we can at least build a lunar base there and use it as a "transshipment" research center for future flights into deep space.
Nikolay Khizhnyak
