Permanently shaded regions at the pulse of the moon have a story to tell. Sun-drenched ice errors could not only provide an account of the lunar history, but also provide astrobiological clues as to the origin of life.
The permanently shattered floor of polar craters is generally between 3.4 and 3.9 billion years old, based on crater statistics.
NASA’s Artemis program calls for the first woman and next man to land on the moon by 2024. The agency also aims to establish sustainable reconnaissance there by the end of the decade, a project that includes a base camp near Shackleton Crater can include at the south pole of the moon.
Such ambitious reconnaissance efforts would probably, at least in part, be reliable. water ice mint of polar craters. And that begs a question: Can humanity use this precious resource without compromising the scientific potential of the poles?
Related: NASA unveils plan for Artemis ‘base camp’ on the moon above 2024
Interim Directive
Last month, NASA released an interim directive entitled “Planetary Protection Categorization for Robotic and Crewed Missions to the Earth’s Moon. ”
The document defines NASA’s implementation of obligations to prevent harmful contamination among the United Nations Treaty for Outer Space, which came into effect in 1967.
The new guideline specifically addresses the control of terrestrial biological contamination associated with spacecraft intended to land, orbit, fly through or otherwise encounter the earth’s most celestial neighbor.
The document divides the lunar plane into two categories. Most of the moon is defined as “Category I”, which requires minimal planetary protection measures. However, permanently damaged polar regions containing water ice are classified as the more restrictive “category II”, such as the Apollo landing pages and other historic spots.
The relevant permanent shadow regions “have scientific value in the study of the history of the solar system and [are] of significant interest in relation to the process of chemical evolution, as well as potential value for In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), “the guideline states.
The directive does not apply to countries other than private sector companies if their mission does not involve NASA. If ISRU becomes a reality on the moon and polar craters are indeed mined for their water ice, could a scientific bonanza be wiped out?
Larger issue
Wage Protection Policy and Policy Making “raises the bigger issue of how to balance development and science on the moon,” said Paul Lucey, a planetary scientist at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology at the University of Hawaii in Manoa .
“Some parts of the moon are very fragile, especially the lunar atmosphere and the coldest parts of the lunar poles,” Lucey told Space.com. “Extensive human activity can permanently change these environments, leading to a loss of the science they can deliver.”
That science is potentially substantial, researchers said.
“Personally, I believe that the moon offers an interesting goal for astrobiology, in that it could potentially help scientists fill in the gaps about what the conditions on Earth may have been, and perhaps insight into the organic inventory that may have been, “said Chris Bennett, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics / Planetary Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Behind-the-envelope calculations suggest that substantial amounts of amino acids to Earth could have been caused by carbonaceous chondritic meteorites, Bennett told Space.com.
“Geological processes and even life itself have literally eroded the first surface of the Earth in the first billion years, along with the ability to determine what the conditions were like then,” Bennett said.
The same is not true for the moon. The Earth’s nearest neighbor has kept a record of the bombing that took place in the early days of the solar system in the rocks brought back during Apollo and the former Soviet Union Luna program. And many of these recurring moon monsters are older than all the rocks found on Earth.
“There is evidence for the exogenous delivery of organs – that is, of comets, meteorites and their associated interplanetary dust particles – still present on the moon today,” Bennett said. “Nevertheless, this work emphasizes the need to return to the moon and collect new samples for analysis.”
Related: Searching for water on the moon in photos
Polar microenvironment
Could contaminate rocket exhaust gases permanently shaking lunar craters?
Research into this perspective is being pursued by Parvathy Prem, a personnel scientist in the Planetary Exploration Group at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
“I think my main takeaway from the work I’ve done is that the redistribution of exhaust gases could be the most widespread and longest-lived modification of the lunar environment by a spacecraft,” Prem said. “Pollution from permanently damaged regions could potentially be minimized by planning routes and thereby driving use.”
Prem said that, due to the sensitivity of gas-surface interactions to surface temperature, it appears that there may be an alternation between severe contamination of a confined area versus light contamination of a wider area.
“Sa, [there’s] no clear distance at which the exhaust would not permanently damage region, “said Prem. It really depends on the landing tractor, the propellant used and also some of the specifications of how water and other refugees deal with the lunar surface, which we are not yet sure. ”
Given the big picture, Prem thinks the most important thing to keep in mind is that the morning polar micro-environment is unique in several ways.
“If we try it, we will change it independently, temporarily or permanently. I would say that understanding and planning for the impact of spacecraft systems on the lunar environment is critical to performing meaningful and responsible science,” Prem concluded.
Leonard David is the author of the book, “Moon Rush: The New Space Race,” which was published by National Geographic in May 2019. A long-time author for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. . Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
