The Moon - Current and Future Exploration

Last updated: 2024/04/26

Significance

Research and analysis on the Moon can tell us much about the Earth, and also the rest of the universe.

Many resources are present on the Moon that would be required to create a moonbase with people living and working on the Moon. For example the oxygen that would be required to make air to breathe, can be extracted from the lunar surface.

Due to its proximity to the Earth and the relatively short travel time to the Moon (as compared to Mars), the Moon may have the first off-planet ground-base where people may work and do research.

There are numerous planned missions to the Moon by various countries, including putting people on the Moon at the Lunar South Pole currently planned for 2026 with the Artemis (III) Program. Read more about it on the Artemis III Wikipedia page and NASA Artemis III page.

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Moon Villages

In the future we may create Moon Villages as more on more people are working on the Moon.

Moon Villages may involve diverse international interests, collaboration between nations, with scientists, engineers, universities and businessmen sharing infrastructure and cooperating to achieve goals.

Moon Village activities could include astronomy, refuelling stations, research projects, lunar exploration, extracting or processing resources, tourism, and many others.

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Gravity

The surface gravity of the Moon is about 17 % of Earth's surface gravity. This means that on the Moon people can jump higher and it is easier to lift and move significantly heavier objects. On the Moon you can fall from approximately 6 X higher than a given height on Earth and land at the same speed as on Earth, (ignoring the effects of air resistance).

Due to the lower gravity on the Moon, objects would also take longer to fall. This means that sports and activities on the Moon would be very different.

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Daylight on the Moon

Daylight on the Moon lasts approximately 2 weeks (approximately 14 Earth days), and then the lunar night lasts approximately 2 weeks. So one full lunar day is approximately 4 weeks.

A Day on the Moon

At the start of a lunar day, you would see the sun slowly appear above the horizon, as the surface becomes visible after the long lunar night (2 weeks). The sun would cast long shadows as it does on Earth. After 7 days the sun would be at its highest point, lunar midday. 7 days later, you would see the lunar sunset on the horizon, and after that, it would be dark for the next 2 weeks.

The above applies for a typical location on the Moon that experiences day and night, such as on the lunar equator. Note, there are some special regions on the Moon, such as deep inside certain craters near the South Pole, that are in constant darkness.

Near Shackleton crater there are areas that are in constant daylight for as long as 200 Earth days.

Physical Resources

Some of the primary resources that people would need for a stay on the Moon would be air, water, food, and energy.

Air (Oxygen and Nitrogen)

Air is primarily made out of oxygen and nitrogen.

The oxygen component of air can be made for the lunar regolith (the equivalent of soil on Earth) that covers the surface of the Moon.

During breathing, the nitrogen component of air is not chemically used by the human body. Nitrogen could potentially be continuously cycled using the original nitrogen that is brought to the Moon in the first missions.

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Water

Many scientific instruments over the years have detected strong evidence of there being water on the Moon in some places.

Many craters at the lunar South Pole are in permanent darkness. This creates what is called a cold trap, a region that remains cold, and could be a likely source of significant amounts of frozen water on the Moon, in certain places.

Water Detection on the Moon

There have been many indications of water in various places on the lunar surface, but up until recently, many of these indications have not been able to conclusively be characterised as water, as other compounds (such as hydroxide) can have similar chemical signatures.

However, water was definitively detected in sunlit regions of the Moon's surface in Clavius crater (69.373° S, 32.319° E) in October 2020, at concentrations of up to 412 parts per million.

This concentration is approximately equivalent to a 12 ounce (340ml) bottle of water trapped in a cubic meter of soil spread across the lunar surface. The detection was made using NASA's SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), which picked up the unique wavelength of water molecules at 6.1 microns. Read more: NASA Website | Nature.com

Clavius crater is on the near side of the Moon, south of Tycho crater.

In 2023, The first detailed wide area map of water of the Moon was created using SOFIA data. Read more: NASA (Article)

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Helium-3

Helium-3 is a highly valuable resource that could be mined on the Moon and brought back to Earth.

Helium-3 is non-radioactive isotope of Helium, that has various uses on Earth. It is very rare on Earth, and is usually produced by the radioactive decay of Tritium, (which is artificially created, and which has a relatively short half life of aproximately 12 years), into Helium-3.

Scientists believe that Helium-3 could also be a potential fusion source to power nuclear fusion power stations that are currently being researched and developed.

The Helium-3 - Helium-3 Fusion reaction, which fuses two Helium-3 atoms to produce energy, and a proton, creates no radioactive waste, due to there being no neutrons produced in the reaction or reactants. Scientists have yet to master the containment of fusion of Helium-3 under extremely high temperatues, and achieve a net positive energy result, but this may be possible in the coming years.

The Moon lacks an atmosphere and magnetic field which theoretically allows Helium-3 to accumulate on the Moon's surface in the lunar soil. There may be millions of tons of Helium-3 available on the lunar surface which could be mined and concentrated on the Moon before being brought back to Earth, for various purposes including the research of fusion power technology and use in future nuclear fusion power stations.

Nations could prioritise research into analyzing samples from various places on the Moon, to determine the real concentrations of Helium-3 in various locations, so adequate planning and viability of Helium-3 mining can be properly determined.

Concurrently methods for extracting and processing lunar soil for various useful elements, including Helium-3 and water, could be worked on by various groups (this research is already being done, and systems are being developed).

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Energy

Solar Power

There are some regions on the Moon that are illuminated for most of the year and this can allow for continuous solar power in that time.

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Food

Initially, and for the first missions, food will have to be brought from Earth to the Moon.

In the future, it may be possible to grow food on the Moon. Some of the raw materials needed for food cultivation will also need to brought from the Earth.

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Lava Tubes

Hollow cave-like lava tubes on the Moon may provide a location for future lunar bases.

Lava tubes could provide shelter deep under the lunar surface, and therefore also provide radiation shielding, and a more stable temperature.

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About

Article written by RL / JL (Xalyse.com).
Most sources of information used in this article are from Wikipedia, much of which are included in the Main Sources section.

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