Nasa’s going back to the Moon – but what’s the point? ...Middle East

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Hello, and welcome back to Everyday Science.

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.

The mission, called Artemis II, is the first crewed trip to the Moon in 50 years, and, while it won’t touch down on the lunar surface, it paves the way for the next missions, which will set up a long-term base on our nearest neighbour.

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.

On the other hand, progressing with crewed missions could deliver uncountable benefits, ranging from high-tech breakthroughs to saving the human race – depending on which space enthusiast you ask.

“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.

It may be puzzling to some why, once we achieved the ability to land on the Moon, we ever stopped going.

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.

After this incredible feat, rather than continuing to push onwards and outwards, we more or less let the space programme fizzle out.

The original quest stemmed from America’s fierce desire to beat the USSR in the space race.

Once that goal was met, the phenomenal expense of each flight could no longer be justified. At the time, no other country had the money or ability to do likewise.

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.

But the current Artemis programme, while it has had some delays and setbacks, now seems on a firmer footing.

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.

Trump has said he wants to get Americans back on the Moon before China and Russia get there – so national pride seems a key motivator just like in the first space race.

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.

It topped that last year, becoming the first to bring home soil samples from the far side. And there are plans for a joint China-Russia lunar base.

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.

Trump’s recent funding cuts to Nasa won’t affect things. The agency’s budget was slashed by a quarter earlier this year, provoking outrage from space scientists.

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

Their ultimate goal is to put a base on the Moon that will be a staging post for the even more ambitious plan of sending humans to Mars.

Artemis 2 will take the crew further from Earth than anyone has been before, going up to 9,000 miles beyond the Moon.

It will also take the first woman and the first person of colour to lunar orbit. “If this is to be inspirational, it’s important that all young people see people like them doing this,” said Dr Casewell.

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.

Last month Nasa announced the base would be powered by a nuclear reactor on the lunar surface. China and Russia also have plans for a joint base that is nuclear powered.

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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.

American pride aside, the programme will have uncountable benefits for humanity, said Dr Casewell. The crew of the Artemis missions will carry out many science experiments while in flight.

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 fact, setting up permanent habitats on the Moon and Mars is vital for safeguarding humanity’s future, in case Earth is ever wiped out, according to people like Elon Musk, whose firm SpaceX is providing rockets for the later Artemis missions.

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.

“Humans go around and pick up samples that they find interesting. The speed at which you can do the work is more rapid than trying to use a rover that walks along the surface,” he said.

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.

“It’s all part of trying to understand our part in the universe, why are we here and how did life form,” she said.

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.

The original space programme yielded many unexpected benefits – like advances in computing and GPS sat-nav systems, said Dr Casewell. “They came out of the need to push the boundaries of what we could do,” she said.

“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.

“They don’t necessarily end up becoming a space scientist, but it engenders their creativity and imagination, which allows them to utilise it whatever they end up doing. For me, that is the power of 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.

But numerous experts have said there is no good evidence to support either of these ideas. So, what is the basis for the claims, and where do they stem from?

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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