Latest news with #Apollo17
Business Times
a day ago
- Science
- Business Times
Another moon landing will take more than rocket science
YOU don't hear the phrase, 'If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we…' much anymore. Perhaps that's because it's not clear that 21st-century America can put a person on the moon again. The Wall Street Journal resurrected the expression in 2018, in a story about the cost overruns and bureaucratic snags hampering the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (Nasa) Artemis programme. The headline read, If We Can Put a Man on the Moon, Why Can't We Put a Man on the Moon?. It's a valid question, considering the first lunar landing took place more than 50 years ago during the Apollo 11 mission, the realisation of a vision launched by president John F Kennedy. Kennedy couldn't have imagined the technological advances that have occurred since then. A common USB-C charger today has more computing power than the Apollo 11's computer. The last crewed moon landing was Apollo 17 in 1972. There are many compelling reasons to return, including the prospect of establishing a scientific base on the moon and preparing for a crewed mission to Mars. Numerous scientific questions remain unanswered. Several presidents have promised a return, but none have delivered. It was president George HW Bush who first proposed the US return to the moon, with the long-term goal of reaching Mars. That was back in 1989, on the 20th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing, but he couldn't get Congress to back the idea with funding. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up President George W Bush announced a renewed focus on the space programme in a 2004 speech, promising a return to the moon as a first step towards putting astronauts on Mars. Congress provided some funding, but when president Barack Obama took office, he pursued other goals. President Donald Trump proposed Artemis during his first term, and since then, the project has been widely criticised for its delays, technical problems and escalating cost – already at US$93 billion. To put that in context, the US spent almost US$26 billion on the Apollo project between 1960 and 1973. That's about US$260 billion today, adjusted for inflation. Motivated by space race Things were much different when the first Apollo missions were launched, and technology wasn't solely responsible for the programme's success. The US was in a race with the Soviet Union, both for strategic and technological dominance and national security. Americans and Congress were united in the cause. Nasa had also inherited a wealth of talent from its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which was created during World War I to help the US catch up to Europe in airplane technology before its mission expanded to include space flight. 'The United States and the Soviet Union were competing for the hearts and minds of the world's public,' said Teasel Muir-Harmony, a science and technology historian and curator of the Apollo Collection at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. It was no coincidence, she said, that Kennedy's 1961 announcement of the programme came shortly after the Bay of Pigs invasion, a failed CIA operation to overthrow Fidel Castro. Additionally, Nasa has much more competition for talent than it did 50 – even 25 – years ago. Private space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin can offer the same opportunities at salaries that dwarf those of civil servant jobs. So perhaps the question isn't what caused us to fall behind, but what was done right back then that allowed us to succeed? A clue comes from the book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race. While the title suggests a focus on the space race, much of the book's focus is on World War II and the Cold War eras, when Nasa inherited both intellectual talent and experience solving gargantuan technological challenges. Officials from the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia, searched the local community for talented women to help improve the design of warplanes. Men were off fighting the war, which meant more jobs were open to them. Aeronautical labs needed mathematicians – 'human computers' – as they were called. Langley directors advertised in newspapers and went on recruiting expeditions to women's and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. They assumed people could learn about aeronautics on the job, as long as they were good at maths. Hidden Figures follows three Black women – Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – who are credited with making significant contributions to the Space Race. Johnson calculated trajectories for the first American in space (Alan Shepard) and the first American to orbit the Earth (John Glenn). Vaughan became an expert programmer in Fortran and the IBM mainframe computer. And Jackson, a computer (and later aerospace) engineer, worked on wind tunnels and flight experiments. Some of the hundreds of women who'd been hired at the lab left after the war, but many stayed to help with the new challenge: countering the threat of the Soviet Union, which was developing nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles. While some estimates say 400,000 were working on the Apollo Programme, Muir-Harmony says that's an undercount. Those involved were devoted to the programme and to being part of something big, she said. They worked around the clock. A lot more to learn about the moon There is still plenty to explore and reignite interest in moon missions. Much is unknown about the far side of the moon, which flyby missions have shown is lighter and has a thicker crust. China's space programme landed equipment there last year and brought back the first rock and soil samples. Both countries are interested in the location for its strategic importance – perhaps as a spot to build a permanent base. The more we learn, the more scientific opportunities beckon. The first Artemis landing is aimed for the same region as the Chinese mission, an area called the South Pole-Aitken Basin, which scientists believe has stores of frozen water. The ability to extract water and other resources would facilitate the goals of building a base or scientific outpost. Water could also be used as a source of hydrogen to fuel missions further out. Additionally, the relative silence of the far side would give radio astronomers the perfect perch for searching for signals from the early universe or even alien civilizations. These projects could foster international cooperation and advance our understanding of Earth and the formation of our solar system. So far, they've yet to generate the same sense of urgency as, say, the fear of communism spreading during the Cold War. We'll surely go back, eventually, perhaps to build a scientific base or open the moon to tourism. But we might have to wait until the money, culture, politics and leadership all fall into alignment again. BLOOMBERG
The Standard
2 days ago
- Science
- The Standard
Earth's mysterious speed-up: why our planet is spinning faster
A view of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew travelling toward the Moon taken on December 7, 1972. REUTERS/NASA/Handout
Yomiuri Shimbun
6 days ago
- Science
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Astronaut Wakata Tests Artemis Lunar Spacesuit for NASA; Outfit Made by Axiom Space, Inc. Eyed for Use in 2027
WASHINGTON — Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata has participated in the first test of a spacesuit being developed for lunar activities in a 12-meter-deep pool at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas. The spacesuit, commissioned by NASA from U.S. space company Axiom Space, Inc., is intended to be worn by astronauts when they land on the moon as part of the U.S.-led Artemis lunar exploration program in or after 2027. The flexibility and safety of the spacesuit are said to have been improved compared to the suits worn when humans last walked on the moon in 1972, during the the Apollo 17 mission. Wakata, 61, who retired from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency last year, joined Axiom Space and participated in the program to test the spacesuit in May, drawing on his experience as an astronaut. In the first experiment, Wakata wore the spacesuit in an indoor pool about 12 meters deep, which is used for spacewalk training, and confirmed the operation capabilities of its life-support devices as well as the communication and cooling systems mounted on the back. He also simulated planting the U.S. flag on the lunar surface during the test. The company plans to continue the tests. 'The Axiom Space-developed spacesuit will enable astronauts to explore the moon for the first time in over 50 years as part of the Artemis III mission to the lunar south pole,' it said in a statement.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Inhaling Moon Dust Is Somehow Less Toxic Than Urban Air Pollution
During the Apollo missions, NASA operated out of an abundance of caution to ensure that astronauts didn't track back by planet-threatening microorganisms from the Moon. However, the conditions on Earth might be more dangerous to human life in one specific way. A study by the University of Technology Sydney published last month found that moon dust was far less toxic to our pulmonary system than the air pollution someone would encounter in a city. The study suggests that inhaling moon dust won't cause long-term damage to our airways. Tests showed lunar material didn't trigger significant oxidative stress to lung cells, dissuading the fears provoked by the uncomfortable experiences of Apollo astronauts and other NASA personnel after the missions from a half-century ago. Now, if you're in the exclusive club of scientists with access to powdered lunar regolith, I wouldn't whip out your I.D. badge to start snorting lines of moon dust for a laugh. Michaela B. Smith, lead researcher and Ph.D student, said: "Any dust, if you inhale it, you'll sneeze, cough, and have some physical irritation. But it's not highly toxic like silica, where you end up with silicosis from being on a construction site for 10 years. It's not going to be something like that." Read more: These Should Be The Next Mail Trucks When The Post Office Gets Privatized The researchers emphasized the critical difference between mechanical damage and toxicity. Moon dust is still infamously abrasive. The study noted the irregular shape and rough edges of the dust. According to statically-charged lunar dust would stick to space suits during Apollo's moon walks. This became a serious issue when astronauts returned to the Lunar Module. Once inside, the dust would sting the crew's eyes, cause a sore throat and sneezing. The same thing would happen once the flight surgeon unpaced the suit back on Earth. This new research will be used for Artemis III, NASA's first crewed return to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission is still scheduled for 2027 after numerous delays caused by development issues. However, the entire program has been jeopardized by the Trump administration's funding cuts and cancellation of the SLS rocket program. If Artemis continues, there are plans for a permanent human presence on the surface. Without the looming threats of long-term health issues, NASA could use moon dust to build its base on the surface. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Ancient moon volcanoes made tiny glass beads. Here's what they mean.
Tiny glass beads brought back by NASA's Apollo 17 astronauts are helping scientists uncover new clues about how the moon erupted billions of years ago. No one expected these glittering bits among the gray lunar dust back then. The beads, smaller than grains of sand, formed when ancient lunar volcanoes spewed molten rock. That rock quickly cooled and hardened into smooth glass in the cold vacuum of space. Now, using modern tools that weren't available a half-century ago following the mission, researchers have zoomed in closer than ever before to look at what's stuck on the outside of those glass beads. They found a kind of mineral powder — so fine you need microscopes to see it — formed as the beads flew through giant gas clouds during the fiery eruptions. These surface coatings reveal how the environment around the moon's volcanoes changed over time, according to a new study published in the journal Icarus. Instead of just confirming that lunar eruptions happened, the Brown University-led research provides insight into how they played out, layer by layer, crystal by crystal. The findings suggest the moon had a much more dynamic history of volcanoes, with evolving gas chemistry, temperature, and pressure changes, than previously known. "It's like reading the journal of an ancient lunar volcanologist," said Ryan Ogliore, a Washington University in St. Louis professor, in a statement. SEE ALSO: What does a meteorite taste like? Someone found out and bottled it. This is a microscopic view of lunar glass beads, smaller than grains of sand. Credit: Katharine Robinson and G. Jeffrey Taylor / Nature Geoscience 2014 The shimmery beads blasted out of the moon's interior when the moon was still young, about 3.3 to 3.6 billion years ago. As lava shot into the airless sky, it quickly cooled into smooth droplets of glass. Some came out shiny orange; others formed in glossy black. Because of their origins, the beads have colors, shapes, and chemical compositions unlike anything found on Earth. But the very existence of the beads is evidence that the moon had explosive eruptions — akin to the fire fountains seen in Hawaii today, Ogliore said. "The beads are tiny, pristine capsules of the lunar interior," he added. Unlike some older lunar samples, these delicate beads were protected from reacting with Earth's air to avoid contamination. The researchers particularly focused on black glass beads collected from a part of the moon called the Taurus-Littrow Valley, a site on the southeastern edge of the Sea of Serenity, formed after a large object smashed into the moon eons ago. Lava spews out of a lunar volcano, forming glass beads that encounter different conditions based on their trajectories through the volcanic gas cloud. Credit: T.A. Williams et al. / Icarus 2025 diagram The most common mineral found in the coatings was sphalerite, containing zinc, sulfur, and iron. The bottom of the micro-buildup was richer in iron, meaning it likely formed earlier when things were hotter and denser. The upper parts formed later, as things cooled down. The scientists found that the black beads had a lot more of these zinc-and-sulfur minerals on them compared to orange beads analyzed in earlier samples taken from the same area. That difference hints that the gas clouds were thicker or hotter at the time when the black beads formed. To probe the samples, the team used a high-energy ion beam to break apart tiny bits of the material, allowing scientists to measure their chemical makeup. They also used other advanced techniques, such as atom probe tomography and electron microscopy. "We've had these samples for 50 years, but we now have the technology to fully understand them," Ogliore said. "Many of these instruments would have been unimaginable when the beads were first collected."
