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This week has seen some of the most exciting science news for a while: in February, Nasa will send four astronauts on a 10-day spaceflight around the Moon.
Some sceptics say the programme is too ambitious and that we could achieve similar science goals with cheaper and less risky uncrewed flights where robots do the experiments.
“The idea that we’re putting people back on to the moon is really exciting and aspirational for a young generation of people,” said Dr Sarah Casewell, an astronomer at the University of Leicester.
All the previous moon landings happened over a brief period between 1969 and 1972, when six missions delivered 12 men to explore the alien lunar surface.
The original quest stemmed from America’s fierce desire to beat the USSR in the space race.
One of the last photos taken on the Moon, in 1972 (Photo: Universal History Archive/Getty)
Nasa has since had several false starts, where its space programme seemed about to be reinvigorated, only to falter thanks to political tussles over its budget, and two horrific space shuttle disasters.
It was ordered by Donald Trump during his first presidency, and got continued support from his successor Joe Biden. Whatever your politics, Trump seems unlikely to now jeopardise a programme that could deliver some out-of-this-world PR opportunities.
China had seemed to be nosing ahead. In 2019 it became the first country to land a spacecraft on the mysterious far side of the Moon – the face that is always turned away from Earth.
Welcome back (Photo 12/Universal Images Group/Getty/Universal Images Group Editorial)
The timing of Artemis 2 had been uncertain. Until recently Nasa said the launch would be no later than April next year. The news it could be brought forward to February is being taken as a good sign – although launches can always suffer delays.
But it was science projects studying the solar system and Earth’s climate that got cancelled, to prioritise the Artemis missions.
Boldly going where no man has gone before
Artemis 2 will take the crew further from Earth than anyone has been before, going up to 9,000 miles beyond the Moon.
The next stage, Artemis 3 is set to land on the Moon in 2027, taking four astronauts there for a week. The Artemis 4 and 5 missions will further progress the plan for setting up a base near the south pole, in the 2030s.
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If the US is first to plant its reactor in a good spot, it would be a significant land grab as well as a psychological victory.
We will learn more about how the human body responds to low gravity, space flight and cosmic radiation, vital before the longer trips to Mars can take place. And the astronauts will do experiments to prepare for the base, like finding out how plants grow in low gravity.
In the shorter term, the astronauts will also take multiple soil and rock samples to learn about the Moon’s geology and “geography”. While robots can also take samples, they are not as good as humans, who can think more flexibly and make on-the-spot decisions, said Professor Mahesh Anand, a lunar scientist at the Open University.
This kind of research will help us learn more about the Moon’s structure, which will ultimately help us understand the formation of the solar system, and whether there may be others like it in the universe, said Dr Casewell.
As well as shedding light on such esoteric questions, there are likely to be scientific and engineering advances from restarting space exploration that are hard to predict in advance.
“There can be arguments over whether space exploration is worth the money spent on it,” said Professor Anand. “But even children get fascinated by space.
I’ve been writing
Donald Trump has claimed autism is caused by women taking paracetamol while pregnant – and that the condition can be improved by a vitamin treatment used for cancer patients.
I’ve been reading
The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier, about a family living in 14th Century Venice, has me absorbed. It is clearly well researched, and I’m just as fascinated by the finer technical details of glass blowing as I am by the adventures of the rule-breaking young woman who is the protagonist.
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