40 Years on, Renaissance Begins for Lunar Exploration

July 21, 2009 - The 40th anniversary of the Apollo lunar landing is a time to look back and, especially, an opportunity to look forward to future space exploration, including the Moon missions now being planned by NASA and other space agencies, said Mark A. Bishop, an associate research scientist with the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute.

Bishop's comments came during an interview last Thursday on the 891 Mornings radio program from ABC Adelaide, Australia.

Bishop talked with commentators Matthew Abraham and David Bevan about the primitive equipment used to send the first men to the Moon and why studying the Moon and other bodies in our solar system is important to understanding climate change on Earth and to plans for establishing colonies in space. He also answered listeners' questions during the 25-minute program.

"There's a huge amount of information on other planets that relates to climate change on Earth," said Bishop, who also is with the University of South Australia's School of Natural and Built Environments. These planets and moons are like a history book that we can study to determine how climate change has affected bodies elsewhere in our solar system and, therefore, to better understand where Earth's climate may be headed, he said.

While the Apollo moon missions were guided by computers that had no more processing power than some of today's digital watches, the huge computing capabilities of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is now circling the moon, are allowing it to map the entire lunar surface down to a resolution of half a meter, he noted.

Other missions have shown that water ice may exist in the depths of some lunar craters or near the Moon's poles, Bishop added.

Mining companies may eventually exploit this water and the vast amounts of other lunar natural resources for use on the Moon and Earth, Bishop said. The water can be used to produce oxygen for astronauts living at lunar bases and for rocket fuel for return trips to Earth.

Besides its valuable, practical results, space exploration also provides inspiration, he said. "Humankind needs inspiration. The kids need something exciting to look forward to." In a world often filled with negative news, seeing a robotic rover rolling across the surface of another planet or a human footprint in the lunar dust is uplifting to the human spirit, he added.

"Within the next ten years, we're going to return astronaut teams to the Moon," Bishop said. "But in the meantime, there's going to be a huge amount of observation." This will include data gathered by spacecraft such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and rovers on the surface.

Forty years after the first Apollo astronauts set foot on the Moon, we are now entering a renaissance in lunar exploration that promises to be every bit as inspiring and exciting and even more scientifically valuable, he said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: To hear the entire 891 Mornings interview with Mark A. Bishop, go to http://blogs.abc.net.au/sa/2009/07/backyard-universe-space-travel.html/more.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures, such as this one of the Apollo 11 site, show the missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.

These first images came before the spacecraft reached its final mapping orbit. Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution. (Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University)

The Planetary Science Institute is a private, nonprofit corporation founded in 1972 and dedicated to solar system exploration. It is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona.

PSI scientists are involved in numerous NASA and international missions, the study of Mars and other planets, the Moon, asteroids, comets, interplanetary dust, impact physics, the origin of the solar system, extra-solar planet formation, dynamics, the rise of life, and other areas of research. They conduct fieldwork in North America, Australia and Africa. They also are actively involved in science education and public outreach through school programs, children's books, popular science books and art.

The Institute's researchers are based in 15 states, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Switzerland and Australia.