Nasa to put man on far side of moon

Times of London ^ | 3/18/06

[iPod Shuffle]

The Sunday Times March 19, 2006

Nasa to put man on far side of moon Jonathan Leake , Science Editor NASA, the American space agency, has unveiled plans for one of the largest rockets ever built to take a manned mission to the far side of the moon.

It will ferry a mother ship and lunar lander into Earth orbit to link up with a smaller rocket carrying the crew. Once united they will head for the moon where the larger ship will remain in orbit after launching the lunar lander and crew.

The design emerged during a space science conference in Houston, Texas, last week. The plan is part of Nasa’s “Return to the Moon” programme set in motion by President George W Bush two years ago.

Under the project, up to four astronauts at a time will land on the far side of the moon to collect rock samples and carry out research, including looking for water that might one day support a lunar base.

The scale of the missions is much larger than the earlier Apollo programme, which is why Nasa will need two separate rockets to take the mother ship and crew into space.

Some missions will also see manned spacecraft landing in unexplored areas such as the lunar mountains and on the moon’s south and north poles.

John Connolly, manager of Nasa’s lunar lander project, said the system was designed to carry crews to almost every part of the moon’s surface.

“The samples they collect and the research they carry out will help solve many mysteries about the origins and composition of the moon and its suitability as a base,” he said.

The Apollo programme carried out six lunar landings between 1969 and 1972. The feat was a triumph, but the technical limitations of the Apollo craft, plus ignorance of lunar terrain, meant all six missions had to be sent to the moon’s plains.

These regions, all on the near side of the moon, were the only areas known to be flat enough for a safe landing. This has frustrated scientists because the samples collected by the six missions are all similar. They are also thought to be younger than lunar mountain rocks.

The far side — so called because it always faces away from the Earth — was first photographed in 1959 by a Russian probe. In 1968 the astronauts of Apollo 8 became the first to view it directly.

The evidence gathered by such missions was enough to deter any attempt to land because most of the far side appeared to be covered in large craters. Additionally, any craft landing there would be cut off from radio contact with Earth.

Connolly believes, however, that Nasa will be able to overcome such problems by sending a series of robotic probes ahead of the manned missions.

The first of these, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, to be launched in 2008, will map the moon’s surface in detail.

Cameras will photograph the surface, backed by a laser altimeter to create a three-dimensional relief map from which Nasa can identify landing sites.

Then, from 2010, a series of “companion lander” missions will carry out test landings on selected sites to see if they are worth a visit by humans.

The final element will be a system of communications satellites, dubbed the “lunar internet”, so astronauts will be able to relay signals to Earth from any part of the moon.

Connolly said the first humans could arrive as early as 2015, although 2018 was more likely. The agency would then aim to send two crews to the moon each year for up to five years. The programme will cost around £56 billion and may also be used to test technology for any future mission to Mars.

Some have questioned whether the programme will produce enough good science to justify the costs.

Manuel Grande, head of the planetary science group at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, dismissed such fears. “Finding out more about the moon will help us understand where the Earth and moon came from,” he said. “There do not have to be good scientific reasons . . . It’s like going up Everest; we want to go to places like the moon and Mars just because they are there.”

[azhenfud]

Now since electronics have become considerably more compact than in the early '70's, I can't see why a much smaller scaled communications satellite couldn't be placed in orbit around the moon to overcome the communications problem.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

There's an interesting consequence to the fact that the moon's rotation is tidally locked to the its orbital period. From any place on the moon, the Earth appears to stand almost still in the sky, its motion tracing a pattern mimicking the moon's libration in reverse, giving lie to a thousand photographs titled "Earthrise".. Jean Meesus in "Mathematical Astronomical Morsels" shows that the pattern is rather chaotic, not the smooth figure eight pattern (the analemma) which the sun traces against the sky every year.

The still earth hanging over the moonscape has phases which are the reverse to the phases of the moon. When the moon is full, as seen from earth, the earth is dark. When the moon is hidden from our view as she nears the sun, the earth will appear correspondingly fuller and brighter.

[new cruelty]

Gee, thank you. I made up a few lines but the credit for the name goes to Cripplecreek as seen in post number 35. I'm still giggling inside at the thought of putting those words to music.

[cripplecreek]

Our earth/moon relationship is pretty interesting, not to mention fortunate.

[DoughtyOne]

I was eighteen, and basicly feel that the promise of our future was ripped right out from under us. I wanted to enter space. At one time I thought I might possibly make it to the moon if some kind of a tourism industry were to be launched. Nothing! Very disappointing. It was also a failure to develop a whole new industry of commerce, jobs, services. I can't believe what a pass our space agency took on this.

[Inyo-Mono]

I hear you. In 1969 I was convinced that I would be staying at a resort on the moon by the 1990s.

[Decepticon]

You realize, of course, that the moon has no permanently dark side. The dark side of the moon is like the dark side of the earth, only in temporary darkness.

LOL, I DARE you to make less sense..;) For those of us that are not orbitalogists, please explain in English....

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Tonight at about midnight local time, you will be on the dark side of the earth. Tomorrow, at about noon local time you will be on the light side of the earth. The moon does the same thing, only time period is 29.53 days, rather than 24 hours.

[Decepticon]

The moon does the same thing, only time period is 29.53 days, rather than 24 hours.

I never knew that....I always believed Tidal Lock meant the moon didn't rotate....I have learned today....thank you.

[adam_az]

science ping

[KevinDavis]

[wyattearp]

Where do we get a rocket big enough to handle Moby Ted?

We use him for fuel.

[xJones]

We use him for fuel.

LOL! Yeah, there's enough gas and alcohol in old Ted to launch just about anything!

[wyattearp]

Drowned control to major Ted

Can I add...

Drowned control to major Ted
Your mouth is on,
but your brain is dead
Can you hear me major Ted?

[georgia2006]

i thought there was no such thing as the far side of the moon

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, LiM. I think I'd seen that before, but didn't have a copy of it.

[vannrox]

Yea. The first time I heard of this idea was in 1958. Sure. The money will probably be taken away after about 4 million dollars was expended in research and diverted for something like education.

[HiTech RedNeck]

These regions, all on the near side of the moon, were the only areas known to be flat enough for a safe landing. This has frustrated scientists because the samples collected by the six missions are all similar. They are also thought to be younger than lunar mountain rocks.

This surely could be addressed without needing a manned mission. Send a small craft that can hop around on the moon's surface and have it get the pieces of rock.