Moon – Page 2 – Cosmic Reflections

Moon and Meteors

Did you know that it is possible to observe a meteor shower when its radiant is below your horizon? When its radiant is too far south (or north, in the southern hemisphere) to ever rise above your horizon? When its radiant is even located near the Sun?

Yes you can! By video recording the Earth-facing night side of the Moon, or during a total or partial lunar eclipse, you have the opportunity to record meteors impacting the surface of the Moon. Those of us who record occultations of stars by asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects already have the equipment necessary to accurately document such events, which typically produce brief flashes of light lasting for a few hundredths of a second.

Leonid meteor lunar impact flashes of +3^m to +8^m were recorded in 1999 and 2001, and Geminid meteor lunar impact flashes have been recorded that were between +5^m and +9^m. Meteor impact events have also been recorded during lunar eclipses, such as just after the beginning of the total lunar eclipse of January 20/21, 2019.

Besides during lunar eclipses, the best time to look for meteor impact events on the Moon is when most of the Earth-facing side of the Moon is dark and illuminated only by earthshine. This occurs during the waxing crescent and waning crescent phases.

NASA has twin 14-inch telescopes that observe the nighttime part of the Moon between the phases of New and First Quarter, and between Last Quarter and New. These telescopes have recorded 435 flashes on the Moon from 2005 to April 2018.

On Mt. Kyllini (930 m), Corinthia, Greece, the 1.2 m Kryoneri telescope of the National Observatory of Athens has been employed in a four year project called NELIOTA (Near-Earth Object Lunar Impacts and Optical Transients) to monitor the Moon for lunar flashes using a two camera system (one R-band and one near-IR) at a video rate of 30 frames per second. All candidate flashes are compared against a database of artificial satellites to exclude false positives due to sunglints of satellites passing in front of the Moon. Between February 2017 and January 2019, forty lunar impact events have been detected.

Of course, you’re more likely to capture a lunar meteor impact flash during a major meteor shower.

Peter Zimnikoval in Slovakia has written a wonderful program called MetShow that will present your local circumstances for the Moon at any date and time and for any meteor shower radiant. I’ve reproduced in the gallery below the lunar circumstances for all the major meteor showers (ZHR ≥ 10) for the remainder of 2019.

April 23, 2019
May 6, 2019
June 8, 2019
July 30, 2019
August 13, 2019
October 9, 2019
October 22, 2019
November 18, 2019
December 7, 2019
December 14, 2019
December 23, 2019

Not only does the lunar phase have to be favorable, but the meteor shower radiant must be coming from a direction that will impact a nighttime part of the Moon that we can see. If the Moon is located near the radiant of a meteor shower, then most of the meteors will impact the far side of the Moon where they will be unobservable from Earth. If the Moon is located near 180˚ from the meteor shower radiant, then the meteors will favor the near side.

This year, the best meteor showers to monitor are the Eta Aquariids around May 6, the Delta Aquariids around July 30, and the Ursids around December 23.

Most meteor showers have a broad maximum, so the exact time to observe the Moon is not as important. But if the meteor shower has a sharp peak, then one should consider the time offset between the Earth and the Moon. Peter Zimnikoval writes (personal communication, 2019):

“Bombarding of the Moon’s surface is almost the same as on the Earth. The position of the observed radiant is given as the vector sum of the heliocentric motion of the meteoroids and the Earth’s motion. For the Moon, there is only a small difference due to its orbital velocity (1 km/s). Regular meteor showers cross the Earth’s orbit at the same point every year. The angular position of this point is described as solar longitude (J2000). The Moon at 3rd quarter reaches this point about 3.6 hours before the Earth (384,399 km / 29.78 km/s = 12,908 seconds = 3.6 hours). The Moon at 1st quarter reaches this point about 3.6 hours after the Earth.”

“For most of the regular meteor showers (Perseids, Orionids, Geminids) this time shift is not very important. Their maxima are not too sharp and the duration is many hours. The time shift may be important for very narrow meteor streams, where the suspected time of maximum is only a few hours and therefore observed from only a small part of the Earth. When the structure of a shower is very sharp, then small differences in the position of the Earth and the Moon passing through this stream can make a difference. At full moon or new moon, the Moon may reach a higher density of particles than the Earth, but these phases are not suitable for observation of lunar impact flares.”

Lunar Meteor Shower Peak Time Geometry (kindly provided by Peter Zimnikoval on March 8, 2019)

References
King, Bob (2019). A Space Rock Strikes Moon During the Total Lunar Eclipse. Sky & Telescope, January 23, 2019 blog. https://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/a-space-rock-strikes-moon-during-the-total-lunar-eclipse/ .

Liakos, Alexios et al.(2019). NELIOTA Lunar Impact Flash Detection and Event Validation. Proceedings of the “ESA NEO and Debris Detection Conference -Exploiting Synergies-“, held in ESA/ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany, 22-24 January 2019. arXiv:1901.11414 [astro-ph.EP].

Zimnikoval, Peter (2017). Lunar impact flashes. WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization, 45:5.

Total Lunar Eclipse 2019

We’ll be treated to a front-row seat for the total lunar eclipse this coming Sunday night and Monday morning, January 20/21, 2019! Here are the local circumstances for Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

Time (CST)	Event	Altitude
8:36:29 p.m.	Penumbral Eclipse Begins	40°
9:10 p.m.	Penumbra first visible?	46°
9:33:55 p.m.	Partial Eclipse Begins	50°
10:41:19 p.m.	Total Eclipse Begins	60°
11:12:18 p.m.	Greatest Eclipse	64°
11:43:18 p.m.	Total Eclipse Ends	66°
12:14:31 a.m.	Moon crosses the celestial meridian	67°
12:50:42 a.m.	Partial Eclipse Ends	66°
1:15 a.m.	Penumbra last visible?	64°
1:48:06 a.m.	Penumbral Eclipse Ends	60°

This is the first total lunar eclipse visible in its entirety from SW Wisconsin since September 28, 2015; the next such event won’t occur again until May 16, 2022. You’ll note in the table above, the Moon will be 64° above the horizon at mid-totality. The Moon has not been this high in our sky at mid-totality since November, 29, 1993 (66°), and it will not be this high again at mid-totality until January 21, 2048 (67°).

The first hint of shading will occur on the left (eastward-facing) edge of the Moon around 9:10 p.m. The first sliver of the full Moon enters the umbral shadow of the Earth at 9:33 p.m., so you’ll want to be watching by then. The entire Moon will be immersed in the umbral shadow of the Earth 67 minutes later at 10:41 p.m. This means that if you were anywhere on the nearside of the Moon you would see the dark Earth (except for city lights) completely covering the Sun, with a spectacular “ring of fire” all the way round the limb of the Earth refracting orangish-red light through our atmosphere—the combined light of all the world’s sunrises and sunsets at that moment.

This, of course, will continue as the Moon penetrates deeper into the umbral shadow of the Earth, reaching its closest to the center of the Earth’s shadow at mid-eclipse at 11:12 p.m.

The best place in the world to view this total lunar eclipse (assuming it is clear) will be Guantánamo Province in Cuba. Just 8 miles north of the municipality of El Salvador, Cuba, the Moon will be directly overhead at mid-eclipse.

There has been an unfortunate tendency of the mainstream media in recent years to use the term “Blood Moon” to describe a total lunar eclipse. Why must we use imagery so often associated with violence, death, and destruction in our discourse? The color of a total lunar eclipse depends upon the condition and transparency of the Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, and it can range from orange to coppery to red, and rarely even gray or brownish, so why not say orangish-red and leave it at that?

Radio Quiet Zones

If you thought light pollution is bad (and it is!), radio pollution for radio astronomers is much worse. Even years ago, terrestrial pollution of the radio spectrum tended to swamp faint celestial sources at many frequencies, and in 1958 the FCC established a 13,000 square mile rectangular region of West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland as the National Radio Quiet Zone. Two facilities within this protected region—whose natural topography helps to screen out many terrestrial radio emissions—are the Sugar Grove Station and the Green Bank Observatory near Green Bank, West Virginia. The world’s largest fully-steerable radio telescope dish was built at Green Bank in 1956. Though the original 300-ft. dish collapsed in 1988 due to a structural failure, it was rebuilt in 2000 as the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, a leading facility for radio astronomy.

Counties wholly within the NRQZ, where many radio-emitting sources are regulated or banned outright, are Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Highland, Nelson, and Rockbridge in Virginia, and Hardy, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, and Upshur in West Virginia.

The NRQZ isn’t the only radio quiet zone. Here are some others:

Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico
Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act (AGAA), South Africa
Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), Chile
Australian Radio Quiet Zone WA (ARQZWA), Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO)
Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO), Canada
Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), China
Institute for Radio Astronomy in the Millimeter Range (IRAM), Spain
Itapetinga Radio Observatory (IRO), Brazil
Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), Mexico
Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory, Russia

The best place in the world to do radio astronomy is not on our world at all but instead on the far side of the Moon. Radio telescopes deployed on the lunar farside could “listen” to the universe with absolutely no interference from Earth. The solid body of the Moon (and its lack of an atmosphere) would completely block all radio signals and noise emanating from the Earth and Earth orbit. And some radio telescopes could be quickly and easily deployed (think long-wire antennas rather than radio dishes). Of course, the Moon itself will need to be designated as a radio quiet zone so that any lunar colonies, rovers, or satellites operate at frequencies and times that will not interfere with scientific work. Maybe infrared or optical lasers would be a better way to communicate?

How would data from a lunar farside radio observatory be transmitted back to Earth? One way would be to have a dedicated lunar satellite that receives data from the radio observatory while it is traveling over the lunar farside. It would then re-transmit that data to Earth while it is traveling over the Earth-facing nearside.

Another (probably more expensive) approach would be to have a series of radio relay towers spaced at intervals from the radio observatory around to the lunar nearside where a transmitter could send the data back to Earth.

A third choice would be to locate the radio observatory in a libration zone along the border between the lunar nearside and farside. At a libration zone radio observatory, data would be collected and stored until each time libration allows a direct line-of-sight to Earth.

The crater Daedalus, near the center of the lunar farside, has been suggested as the best location for a radio astronomy facility on the Moon (Pagana et al. 2006).

There is also a region above the farside lunar surface where radio emissions from Earth and Earth-orbiting satellites, would be blocked by the Moon, called the “Quiet Cone”, as illustrated in the diagram below.

The Earth-Moon L₂ Lagrange point (EML2) is probably going to be within the lunar quiet cone. Because L₂ is an unstable Lagrange point, a radio telescope in the quiet cone would need to be in a halo orbit about EML2, and a tight one at that to avoid “seeing” any radio emissions from the highest Earth-orbiting satellites.

References
Antonietti, N.; Pagana, G.; Pluchino, S.; Maccone, C.
A proposed space mission around the Moon to measure the Moon Radio-Quiet Zone, 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 16 – 23 July 2006, in Beijing, China.

Like Sun, Like Moon

The Earth orbits the Sun once every 365.256363 (mean solar) days relative to the distant stars. The Earth’s orbital speed ranges from 18.2 miles per second at aphelion, around July 4th, to 18.8 miles per second at perihelion, around January 3rd. In units we’re perhaps more familiar with, that’s 65,518 mph at aphelion and 67,741 mph at perihelion. That’s a difference of 2,223 miles per hour!

As we are on a spinning globe, the direction towards which the Earth is orbiting is different at different times of the day. When the Sun crosses the celestial meridian, due south, at its highest point in the sky around noon (1:00 p.m. daylight time), the Earth is orbiting towards your right (west) as you are facing south. Since the Earth is orbiting towards the west, the Sun appears to move towards the east, relative to the background stars—if we could see them during the day. Since there are 360° in a circle and the Earth orbits the Sun in 365.256363 days (therefore the Sun appears to go around the Earth once every 365.256363 days relative to the background stars), the Sun’s average angular velocity eastward relative to the background stars is 360°/365.256363 days = 0.9856° per day.

The constellations through which the Sun moves are called the zodiacal constellations, and historically the zodiac contained 12 constellations, the same number as the number of months in a year. But Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte (1882-1955) drew up the 88 constellation boundaries we use today, approved by the IAU in 1930, so now the Sun spends a few days each year in the non-zodiacal constellation Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer. Furthermore, because the Earth’s axis is precessing, the calendar dates during which the Sun is in a particular zodiacal constellation is gradually getting later.

Astrologically, each zodiacal constellation has a width of 30° (360° / 12 constellations = 30° per constellation). But, of course, the constellations are different sizes and shapes, so astronomically the number of days the Sun spends in each constellation varies. Here is the situation at present.

Constellation

Description

Sun Travel Dates

Capricornus

Sea Goat

Jan 19 through Feb 16

Aquarius

Water Bearer

Feb 16 through Mar 12

Pisces

The Fish

Mar 12 through Apr 18

Aries

The Ram

Apr 18 through May 14

Taurus

The Bull

May 14 through Jun 21

Gemini

The Twins

Jun 21 through Jul 20

Cancer

The Crab

Jul 20 through Aug 10

Leo

The Lion

Aug 10 through Sep 16

Virgo

The Virgin

Sep 16 through Oct 31

Libra

The Scales

Oct 31 through Nov 23

Scorpius

The Scorpion

Nov 23 through Nov 29

Ophiuchus

Serpent Bearer

Nov 29 through Dec 18

Sagittarius

The Archer

Dec 18 through Jan 19

The apparent path the Sun takes across the sky relative to the background stars through these 13 constellations is called the ecliptic. A little contemplation, aided perhaps by a drawing, will convince you that the ecliptic is also the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The Moon never strays very far from the ecliptic in our sky, since its orbital plane around the Earth is inclined at a modest angle of 5.16° relative to the Earth’s orbital plane around the Sun. But, relative to the Earth’s equatorial plane, the inclination of the Moon’s orbit varies between 18.28° and 28.60° over 18.6 years as the line of intersection between the Moon’s orbital plane and the ecliptic plane precesses westward along the ecliptic due to the gravitational tug of war the Earth and the Sun exert on the Moon as it moves through space. This steep inclination to the equatorial plane is very unusual for such a large moon. In fact, all four satellites in our solar system that are larger than our Moon (Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, and Io) and the one that is slightly smaller (Europa) all orbit in a plane that is inclined less than 1/2° from the equatorial plane of their host planet (Jupiter and Saturn).

Since the Moon is never farther than 5.16° from the ecliptic, its apparent motion through our sky as it orbits the Earth mimics that of the Sun, only the Moon’s angular speed is over 13 times faster, completing its circuit of the sky every 27.321662 days, relative to the distant stars. Thus the Moon moves a little over 13° eastward every day, or about 1/2° per hour. Since the angular diameter of the Moon is also about 1/2°, we can easily remember that the Moon moves its own diameter eastward relative to the stars every hour. Of course, superimposed on this motion is the 27-times-faster-yet motion of the Moon and stars westward as the Earth rotates towards the east.

Now, take a look at the following table and see how the Moon’s motion mimics that of the Sun throughout the month, and throughout the year.

——— Moon’s Phase and Path ———

Date

Sun’s Path

New

Full

Mar 20

EQ ↑

High

EQ ↓

Low

Jun 21

High

EQ ↓

Low

EQ ↑

Sep 22

EQ ↓

Low

EQ ↑

High

Dec 21

Low

EQ ↑

High

EQ ↓

New = New Moon

near the Sun

FQ = First Quarter

90° east of the Sun

Full = Full Moon

180°, opposite the Sun

LQ = Last Quarter

90° west of the Sun

EQ ↑

= crosses the celestial equator heading north

High

= rides high (north) across the sky

EQ ↓

= crosses the celestial equator heading south

Low

= rides low (south) across the sky

So, if you aren’t already doing so, take note of how the Moon moves across the sky at different phases and times of the year. For example, notice how the full moon (nearest the summer solstice) on June 27/28 rides low in the south across the sky. You’ll note the entry for the “Jun 21” row and “Full” column is “Low”. And, the Sun entry for that date is “High”. See, it works!

What is a Vacuum?

A vacuum is not nothing. It is only a region of three-dimensional space that is entirely devoid of matter, entirely devoid of particles.

The best laboratory vacuum contains about 25 particles (molecules, atoms) per cubic centimeter (cm³).

The atmosphere on the surface of the Moon (if you can call it that) contains a lot more particles than the best laboratory vacuum: about 40,000 particles per cm³. This extremely tenuous lunar atmosphere is mostly made up of the “noble” gases argon, helium, and neon.

The vacuum of interplanetary space contains about 11 particles per cm³.

The vacuum of interstellar space contains about 1 particle per cm³.

The vacuum of intergalactic space contains about 10^-6 particles per cm³. That’s just 10 particles per cubic meter of space.

But what if we could remove all of the particles in a parcel of space? And somehow shield that empty parcel of space from any external electromagnetic fields? What would we have then?

It appears that even completely empty space has some inherent energy associated with it. The vacuum is constantly “seething” with electromagnetic waves of all possible wavelengths, popping into and out of existence on unimaginably short time scales—allowed by Heisenberg’s energy-time uncertainly principle. These “quantum flourishes” may be a intrinsic property of space—as is dark energy. Dark matter, on the other hand, is some weird form of matter that exists within space, exerting gravitational influence but not interacting with normal matter or electromagnetic waves in any other way.

Is there any evidence of this vacuum energy, or is it all theoretical? There are at least three phenomena that point to the intrinsic energy of empty space. (1) The Casimir effect; (2) Spontaneous emission; and (3) The Lamb shift.

The Casimir effect
Take two uncharged conductive plates and put them very close to each other, just a few nanometers apart. Only the shortest wavelengths will be able to exist between the plates, but all wavelengths will exist on the other side of the two plates. Under normal circumstances, this will cause a net force or pressure that pushes the two plates towards one another.

Spontaneous emission
An example of spontaneous emission is an electron transitioning from an excited state to the ground state, emitting a photon. What causes this transition to occur when it does?

The Lamb shift
The Lamb shift is a tiny shift in the energy levels of electrons in hydrogen and other atoms that can’t be explained without considering the interaction of the atom with “empty” space.

References
Reucroft, S. and Swain, J., “What is the Casimir effect?”, Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-casimir-effec/. Accessed 20 Feb 2018.

Koks,D. and Gibbs, P., “What is the Casimir effect?”, http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Quantum/casimir.html. Accessed 20 Feb 2018.

Saturn V

Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the inaugural flight of Wernher von Braun’s magnum opus, the giant Saturn V moon rocket. This first flight was an unmanned mission, Apollo 4, and took place less than 10 months after the tragic launch pad fire that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, 40, Ed White, 36, and Roger Chaffee, 31.

Apollo 4 image of Earth at an altitude of 7,300 miles

The unmanned Apollo 4 mission was a complete success, paving the way for astronauts to go to the Moon. After another successful unmanned test flight (Apollo 6), the Saturn V rocket carried the first astronauts into space on the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968. On that mission, astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders orbited the Moon for 20 hours and then returned safely to Earth.

Bill Anders took this iconic photo of Earth from Apollo 8 while in orbit around the Moon

“As of 2017, the Saturn V remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful (highest total impulse) rocket ever brought to operational status, and holds records for the heaviest payload launched and largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit (LEO) of 140,000 kg (310,000 lb), which included the third stage and unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo Command/Service Module and Lunar Module to the Moon. To date, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to launch missions to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit.”

Reference (for quoted material above)
Wikipedia contributors, “Saturn V,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saturn_V&oldid=808028027 (accessed November 9, 2017).

Changing Solar Distance

Between January 2 and 5 each year, the Earth reaches orbital perihelion, its closest distance to the Sun (0.983 AU). Between July 3 and 6 each year, the Earth reaches orbital aphelion, its farthest distance from the Sun (1.017 AU). These dates of perihelion and aphelion slowly shift across the calendar (always a half year apart) with a period between 22,000 and 26,000 years.

These distances can be easily derived knowing the semi-major axis (a) and orbital eccentricity (e) of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, which are 1.000 and 0.017, respectively.

perihelion
q = a (1-e) = 1.000 (1-0.017) = 0.983 AU

aphelion
Q = a (1+e) = 1.000 (1+0.017) = 1.017 AU

So, the Earth is 0.034 AU closer to the Sun in early January than it is in early July. This is about 5 million km or 3.1 million miles.

How great a distance is this, really? The Moon in its orbit around the Earth is closer to the Sun around New Moon than it is around Full Moon. Currently, this difference in distance ranges between 130,592 miles (April 2018) and 923,177 miles (October 2018). Using the latter value, we see that the Moon’s maximum monthly range in distance from the Sun is 30% of the Earth’s range in distance from the Sun between perihelion and aphelion.

How about in terms of the diameter of the Sun? The Sun’s diameter is 864,526 miles. The Earth is just 3.6 Sun diameters closer to the Sun at perihelion than it is at aphelion. Not much! On average, the Earth is about 108 solar diameters distant from the Sun.

How about in terms of angular size? When the Earth is at perihelion, the Sun exhibits an angular size of 29.7 arcminutes. At aphelion, that angle is 28.7 arcminutes.

Can you see the difference?

In the Shadow of the Moon

Every once in a while a really great documentary comes along. In the Shadow of the Moon is one of them. This 2007 British film, which like most documentaries (unfortunately), had a very limited theater engagement, is now widely available for rental or purchase.

It is the remarkable story of the Apollo missions to the Moon, told eloquently by many of the astronauts who journeyed there: Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Alan Bean (Apollo 12), Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 & 13), Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14), David Scott (Apollo 9 & 15), John Young (Apollo 10 & 16), Charles Duke (Apollo 16), Eugene Cernan (Apollo 10 & 17), and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17). You certainly get the impression that not only are these guys personable and intelligent, but that they have aged well and still have much insight and wisdom to offer us about the past, present, and future.

The historical importance of this documentary cannot be overstated. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like hearing about the first (and still only) human missions to the Moon firsthand from the astronauts who journeyed there. And, sadly, these pioneering astronauts are not going to be with us much longer. Most have already left us. In the fourteen years since this documentary was released, Edgar Mitchell, the last surviving member of the Apollo 14 crew, passed away in 2016, Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, passed away in 2017, John Young, the longest-serving astronaut in NASA history, and Alan Bean, the last surviving member of the Apollo 12 crew, left us in 2018, and Michael Collins passed away in 2021. The five surviving Apollo astronauts who shared their stories with us in this film are all octogenarians and nonagenarians: Jim Lovell is 93, Buzz Aldrin is 91, David Scott is 88, Charles Duke is 85, and Harrison Schmitt is 85.

This is a story that needed to be told by those who can tell it best. There is no narrator, nor is there any need for one. Kudos to directors David Sington & Christopher Riley, producers Duncan Copp, Christopher Riley, Sarah Kinsella, John Battsek, & Julie Goldman, and composer Philip Sheppard for making this a film of lasting cultural significance, a film that will be admired and appreciated a hundred-plus years from now.

Bringing Home Pieces of the Moon

The astronauts on Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 between 1969 and 1972 brought back a total of 840 lbs of moon rocks and soil. Each successive Apollo mission brought back a larger amount of lunar material.

The Soviets brought back a total of 0.7 lbs of lunar soil through their robotic sample return missions Luna 16 (1970), Luna 20 (1972), and Luna 24 (1976).

So, excluding lunar meteorites that have befallen the Earth, a total of 840.7 lbs of lunar material has been delivered to research laboratories here on Earth.

It has been over 40 years since we have brought anything back from the lunar surface. There are many interesting areas yet to be explored. Why not send a series of robotic geologists to the Moon in advance of human missions? The success of the Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers on Mars show us the exciting work that can be done at a fraction of the cost of human missions. One enhancement would be the ability of the lunar robotic rovers to collect moon rocks and soil and return them to the mother ship for delivery to Earth.

But our 40+ year wait for additional lunar material may soon be over!

China plans to launch the Chang’e 5 lunar lander in November of this year. It is expected to land in the Oceanus Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”) region of the Moon, scoop up at least 4.4 lbs of lunar soil and rock—including some at least six feet below the surface! The lunar haul will be launched into lunar orbit, where it will rendezvous with the sample return module that will bring it back to Earth. After a high-speed entry into Earth’s atmosphere, the sample return module will rapidly decelerate, then gently parachute down to the Earth’s surface, presumably somewhere in China.

Chang’e 5 promises to be one of the most exciting and important space missions this year. Stay tuned!

Below the Lunar Surface

Between 1969 and 1972, a dozen human beings walked upon the surface of the Moon, amounting to a total lunar exploration time of 3^d 8^h 32^m 26^s. Gene Cernan returned to the Lunar Module at 11:40:56 p.m. CST on December 13, 1972. In the over 44 years since, no one has followed in his footsteps. Sadly, Gene Cernan, who died in 2017, never lived to see another human walk on the Moon. Ever since his Apollo 17 mission, he has held the dubious distinction of being the “last man to walk on the Moon”.

Only four of the twelve Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon are still living. Will humans return to the Moon before the last of them dies?

Buzz Aldrin (1930-)

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

Alan Bean (1932-2018)

Gene Cernan (1934-2017)

Pete Conrad (1930-1999)

Charlie Duke (1935-)

Jim Irwin (1930-1991)

Ed Mitchell (1930-2016)

Harrison Schmitt (1935-)

Dave Scott (1932-)

Alan Shepard (1923-1998)

John Young (1930-2018)

Fortunately, robotic explorers orbiting and landing on the Moon in recent years have made some discoveries that provide a new impetus for humans to return to the Moon. One of those discoveries is evidence for sublunarean structures that could provide “roughed in” habitats for human settlement.

Mother Nature may have done us a great favor thanks to lunar volcanism.

Most volcanism on the Moon occurred between 3 and 4 billion years ago when the lunar maria formed.

Sinuous rilles provide evidence of past volcanic flows and may be the collapsed remains of lava tubes. There is some evidence to support that both Vallis Schröteri and Rima Sharp extend below the lunar surface as uncollapsed lava tubes. Vacant lava tubes beneath the lunar surface may be quite common.

Vallis Schröteri (Schroter’s Valley) – More Beneath the Surface?

Volcanism on the Moon may have continued almost up to the present day. Not only do numerous small volcanoes on the Moon suggest active volcanism within the past 50 to 100 million years, but the irregular mare patch Ina in Lacus Felicitatis (“Lake of Happiness”) may be a volcanic feature no more than 10 million years old.

An Irregular Mare Patch (IMP) named Ina, in Lacus Felicitatis – Evidence of Geologically Recent Volcanism?

Could there be vacant lava tubes beneath the lunar surface? On Earth, underground lava tubes can be found in Hawaii, Iceland, and many other locations around the world.

Thurston Lava Tube at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Hawaii

Further evidence that there may be caverns and vacant tubes underneath the lunar surface are the many deep pits that have been discovered—over 150 so far. Some of these pits may be openings into lava tubes beneath the surface, known as skylights.

Marius Hills Hole (MHH) – Lava Tube Entrance

Images of the Marius Hills Hole as observed under different solar illumination conditions by the SELENE/Kaguya Terrain Camera and Multiband Imager [JAXA/SELENE]

NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) lunar orbiters mapped the gravitational field of the Moon in unprecedented detail, uncovering evidence of voids beneath the lunar surface. Ground-penetrating radar, gradiometric, and gravimetric measurements are now needed to confirm the nature of these voids and whether they would be suitable structures for human habitation, shielding lunar residents from radiation, temperature extremes, and micrometeorites.

The Marius Hills Hole (MHH), about 160 ft. wide and 160 ft. deep at 14.100˚N, 303.262˚E, has been identified as leading to an intact lava tube below the lunar surface (Kaku et al. 2017). The discovery was made after analyzing data from the Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) instrument aboard the SELENE spacecraft. LRS was an 800-watt ground penetrating radar, sweeping between 4 and 6 MHz every 200 μsec. Each time these radio waves hit subsurface boundaries between rock and void, they reflected back towards the spacecraft and the lag times were used to estimate the depth and size of the voids.

Additional lava tubes or cavernous voids are thought to exist in the Marius Hills region, 13.5-13.8˚ N, 302.5-302.8˚ E.

The Lunar Advanced Radar Orbiter for Subsurface Sounding (LAROSS) mission has been proposed (Sood et al. 2016), and Gedex Inc., a Toronto-based geophysics company, is developing a rover-mounted gravimeter and gravity gradiometer (Urbancic et al. 2015). A gradiometer will be used to study the near-surface environment, and a gravimeter will go deeper.

These are exciting times for lunar exploration!

References
Beatty, K. 2014, (Geologically) Recent Volcanoes on the Moon?, Sky &    Telescope blog, October 14, 2014
Blair, D. M., Chappaz, L., Sood, R. et al. 2017, Icarus, 282, 47:55
Kaku, T., Haruyama, J. et al. 2017, Geophysical Research Letters, 44
Sood, R., Melosh, H. J., Howell, K. 2016, 26th AAS/AIAA Space Flight    Mechanics Meeting, AAS 16-464
Sumner, T. 2017, Science News, 191, 1, 5 (January 21, 2017)
Urbancic, N., Stanley, S., Ghent, R., et al. 2015, 46th Lunar and Planetary    Science Conference #1616