Lunar Experts Favor More Moon Rock Returns: Selenology to Benefit Humanity
NASA veteran Andrew Petro writes that lunar robotic missions returning regolith will accelerate exploration; lunar geologist Clive Neal analyzes Apollo remnants for resource potential; NASA planetary scientist Noah Petro (no relation) advocates new samples during Artemis missions; regolith research benefits ISRU yielding safer Astronaut missions and lunar base viability; Apollo brought 382kg; authentic samples priceless under USA law, fragments bring ~US$5M illegally; China Chang’E-5 samples sent to scientists worldwide; Outer Space Treaty declares Moon belongs to all, thus symbolic share per human of acre, with lunar ~9.37B acres ample for ~8.2B Earth inhabitants
Image Credits: NASA
NASA CAPSTONE targeting 13-22 June launch window; KARI Danuri set for 2 Aug, NASA Artemis 1 team working to achieve WDR 19 June then NET Aug launch; Vessels are bound for ~1,609×70,006km NRHO, elliptical 100km polar orbit, and 100×61,155km DRO respectively; NASA PRISM science proposals Lunar-VISE (investigation of Gruithuisen Domes), LEIA (study of yeast exposed to lunar environment) to receive CLPS task orders for launch circa 2026; NASA SSTR awarding US$150K to Air Company Holdings / NYU for development of RP-1 production process using only CO2 / H2; NASA Break the Ice Lunar Challenge phase 2 distributing $3M for water harvesting tech
CSA-ASC funding 5 companies to advance Lunar Surface Exploration Initiative with 7 studies (~US$200K/ea, $1.4M total) on agricultural science, avionics/comms, mining/ISRU, power; Canadensys (Bolton ON) to study lunar greenhouse, modular rover concepts; MDA (Brampton ON) to study nuclear power generation, autonomous robots / rovers; MPB Communications (Pointe-Claire QC) to study Earth-Moon optical comms, Canadian Space Mining Corporation (Toronto ON) to study lunar prospecting; Honeywell Ltd. of Canada (Ottawa ON) to study Moon surface / orbit communication network
12-g Moon samples collected during Apollo 11, 12, 17 utilized by 3 researchers at UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences demonstrate viability of lunar regolith as growing medium; Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) seeds germinated at “rates close to 100%” within 48-60 hours, similar to control group with volcanic ash substrate; Regolith-grown plants were affected by higher differentially expressed gene rate which study authors attribute to solar wind, cosmic radiation effects, abundance of iron oxides; Outcomes varied by sample location with Apollo 17 most robust
Conducted by Institute Of Competition Sciences, NASA SSERVI and UCF Exolith Laboratory with support from SC, FL, MN, ID, VA, NM Space Grant Consortiums, Plant the Moon and Plant Mars Challenges looking forward to the technologies and practices needed to sustain human life off Earth; Lunar regolith simulant being shipped to students nationwide, mentored by Science Advisory Board including (L-R) Nanoracks Chief Innovation Officer Michael Lewis, Scientist Chris McKay, Exolith Lab Chief Scientist Zoe Landsman; Opening Symposium 22 Sep
Opportunity To Test Technologies Meant For Moon Offered By