Lunar Exploration: The Next Frontier

Lunar exploration timeline 1957 – 1976 AD US & USSR Landings Composition of lunar surface 1600 AD Telescopic observations; Physical characteristics 2007 AD Multinational effort to return to the moon 500 BC Naked eye observations; Size, Orbital characteristics, Composition AD Chemical composition, Magnetic characteristics, Presence of water 1800 AD Photographic maps; Origin of craters & maria

Greeks Anaxagorus, c. 450 BC - Moon reflects Sun’s light Democritus, c. 400 BC - Markings were mountains Aristarchus and Hipparchus, c. 200 BC - Measurements for size and distance

Early Understanding Distance to Moon –Greeks: 375,000 – 460,000 km –Present: 384,400 km Circumference: –Greeks: 14,000 km –Present: 10,916 km Orbital Period: 27.3 days Nature –Stone sphere with an irregular surface

The 17 th Century Galileo Galilei – Started telescopic observation of the sky in 1610 Robert Hooke - Experimentally modeled lunar craters Cassini - Best map of moon at the time

Pre-Space Program Grove Karl Gilbert – In 1893 correctly stated origin of craters and nature of maria, later proved by Ralph Belknap Baldwin Better maps thanks to photographry, culminating in 1935, with Fred E Wright’s lunar globes

Telescopic Discoveries Lunar surface marked by craters and maria. No water and no discernable atmosphere. Impact origin of craters. Basalt composition of maria. Photographic plates increase accuracy of maps.

Space Age Begins Sputnik 1, launched October 4, 1957, was the first artificial satellite Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin –On April 12, 1961 became the first man in space aboard the Vostok 1 –Spent 1 hour, 48 minutes in space

America’s First Steps Project Mercury –Ran from 1959 to 1963 –On May 5, 1961, put Alan Shepard into space for 15 minutes and 28 seconds, the first American in space –Later John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth On Sept 12, 1962, President Kennedy rallied the American public behind the “space race”

Soviet Lunar Contact January of 1959, the Soviet Union sent their first mission to the moon - Luna 1 did not impact as intended, and was instead the first lunar flyby Luna 2 crashed as planned near Archimedes in Sept. Luna 3 returned the first photos (very poor) of the far side in October.

American Lunar Contact Ranger 4, launched in April,1962, is the first and still only contact with far side (intended to hit nearside!) Ranger 7 successfully crash landed in July, 1964; sent real-time high resolution photos of Mare Cognitum

Soft Contacts Luna 9 –Feb, 1966 –First soft landing Surveyor I –June, 1966 –First study of lunar rocks and soils from a US soft lander.

New Perspectives Lunar Orbiter 4 –May, 1967 –Most widely used lunar images ever obtained Surveyor 6 –Nov, 1967 –First spacecraft to take off from Moon (hopped 8 ft for stereo views)

The Apollo Program Apollo 1 –Jan 27, 1967 –Fire kills three astronauts Program continues cautiously, using first unmanned and later manned missions from to test all the moon landing technology.

Apollo 11 –July 20, 1969 –Neil Armstong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins –"One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."

The End of an Era Apollo missions continued landing men on the moon, closing with Apollo 17 in The Soviets never sent a manned mission to the moon. Luna 24 –USSR –1976 –last lunar probe for 25 years. Brought back samples of lunar soil.

New Insights Astronauts experienced no atmosphere and low gravity Seismic stations installed – crust about 10% volume 382 kg of rock and soil from Apollo and Luna missions Regolith consists of mineral dust and rock fragments; the marias are basalt Old rocks allow study of Solar System history

Current Programs Hiten –Jan, 1990 –Japanese Lunar Orbiter –Failed to send back data. Clementine –US Lunar Orbiter –1994 –Multi-spectral imaging of the entire lunar surface.

Current Programs Lunar Prospector –US, 1998 –Global mapping of radioactivity and elemental composition –Discovered polar water ice Smart 1 –Europe, 2003 –Tested the solar-powered ion thruster

Future: 2007 and beyond Chang‘e 1 - Chinese lunar orbiter Chandrayaan 1 - Indian lunar orbiter and impactor SELENE, LUNAR-A – Japanese projects to study the Moon’s origin, evolution and tectonics.

The Vision for Space Exploration The US plans to return to the moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, developed at Goddard Space Flight Center, is to be launched in A new Crew Exploration Vehicle is being designed, with new boosters to get it and additional payloads to the moon.

Future for the US In the next year: –Orbital research using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite –Develop Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) –Carry out robotic exploration of lunar surface Complete ISS by 2010 First crewed flights by 2014 Extended human missions as early as 2015 Human exploration no later than 2020