When Are We Going to Land Astronaughts on the Moon Again
Tess Caswell • May 22, 2018
How are we preparing astronauts for a return to the Moon?
Returning to the Moon won't exist easy, fifty-fifty though nosotros've been there before. In a way, it's going to be more hard precisely because we've already been at that place. Thank you to Apollo and a host of remote sensing observations, we know vastly more nigh the Moon now than nosotros did before humanity's commencement landing. New knowledge breeds ever more scientific questions about the Moon's origin and evolution, while from a technical standpoint, looking dorsum on Apollo teaches us priceless lessons on how to explore another world. This combined body of scientific and technical knowledge gives ascension to a daunting list of new challenges that must be overcome before renewed exploration. Fortunately, several talks and posters throughout the 2018 Lunar and Planetary Science Briefing demonstrated that endless people effectually the world are working to prepare Moon-spring astronauts to hit the ground running – in one case they get used to running in one-sixth one thousand, of course.
The "route map"
Every bit many readers are probably enlightened, national space policy has shifted toward returning humans to the Moon. Mars is, for at present, a more distant goal. John Guidi, Deputy Director of the Advanced Exploration Systems Division of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, laid out the current programme for human exploration of the solar system: NASA and its international partners will build a space station in lunar orbit from which remote scientific discipline and, eventually, crewed landings will take identify (estimated to occur around 2025). This cooperative, international station, known as the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (can we delight but go along calling it the "Gateway?"), volition be visited by astronauts for up to three months at a fourth dimension. According to Guidi, its mission will be multi-faceted, spanning technology development, commercial utilization, and international scientific research. Construction is slated to begin in the 2020's with the launch of a "Power, Propulsion, and Equipment" module, or PPE. This first launch may carry scientific experiments—a prospect that had the "Luna-tics" at LPSC over the Moon. Early efforts are underway to ascertain what sort of experiments those might be, including a "Gateway Science workshop" held earlier this year. According to Guidi, i of the master outcomes of that meeting was the demand for a robotic arm on the Gateway to install experiments exterior the station.
Scientists aren't the merely ones excited about new bootprints in the lunar dust. During a special session commemorating the success of Apollo 17, erstwhile NASA Flying Director Gerry Griffin described how the mission's flying directors gathered in Mission Control equally the capsule sped back to World. With humanity'southward last planned Moon landing consummate, they expected astronauts to be on Mars within 20 years. Obviously, that didn't happen. Equally a upshot, NASA's expertise in planetary surface exploration has been lost over time. "A return to the Moon," Griffin says, "will permit u.s. to get our 'deep infinite mojo' back earlier a return to Mars." Moonwalker Jack Schmitt, who routinely contributes to sessions at LPSC by offering his get-go-mitt insights into lunar geology, agreed. "The Moon allows u.s.a. to do for Mars while doing valuable science."
Preparing for a new era of lunar exploration
"Destination: Moon" is all well and practiced, but how practise nosotros prepare astronauts to exist as constructive every bit possible when they finally bear upon downwards on the dusty surface? The answer is, not surprisingly, practise!
Only as the Moon will be an excellent preparation ground for Mars, extreme environments hither on Globe are great places to test out hardware and techniques for exploring other worlds.Analogsare environments simulating various aspects of spaceflight. NASA uses extreme environments like the seafloor, remote caves, or the windblown ice sheets of Antarctica as analogs for life in space. In these environments, astronauts and ground teams learn both operational and technological lessons that enable more productive exploration of planetary surfaces.
Operationallessons relate to the way spaceflight is managed. How should astronauts prioritize their fourth dimension? What's the all-time way for scientists on Earth to communicate their needs to a crew in infinite? When a decision must exist fabricated, which mission goals are most important? During analog missions in an environment like to spaceflight, astronauts learn to answer these questions while investigating an area of genuine scientific interest or testing out new technology for exploring planetary surfaces. Ane such operational analog is the European Space Agency'due south CAVES program (LPSC Abstract 1458; CAVES being a wonderfully reverse-engineered acronym for "Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human beliefs and performance Skills"), which prepares astronauts for planetary surface exploration by setting them loose to explore a network of caves in Sardinia, Italy. After several days of skills training, the programme culminates in a multi-day underground excursion during which the astronauts explore the caves independently, putting their scientific exploration skills to the test.
According to CAVES teacher Francesco Sauro, the expeditions are already revealing useful tricks that will lead to more fruitful exploration of the Moon (and eventually Mars). For example, it turned out that astronaut crews were able to acquit better, faster exploration when they were given daily objectives butnota precise schedule; greater flexibility resulted in greater scientific return. The program likewise emphasized the value of mixed teams. Mauro explains that different astronaut personality types complement each other during contained exploration: in general, pilot astronauts focus on condom and planning, but can get carried away exploring without documenting their findings; Scientist-astronauts focus on the measurements, just can get hyper-focused on a single, interesting area and lose track of fourth dimension.
Lessons from operational environments like CAVES become peculiarly powerful when paired with dedicated scientific training designed to give astronauts the skills and fundamental noesis of field geologists. The European Space Agency'due south Pangaea initiative (for which Sauro is also an teacher) imbues European astronauts with this disquisitional noesis (Abstract 1120), while NASA has incorporated "Earth and Planetary Science" training into the core curriculum for its most recent classes of astronauts (Abstract 2547). In both programs, astronaut training builds from classroom geology lessons to mapping and field exercises. Lessons are based on the Apollo-era mindset of, "You learn by doing and then doing some more." The idea is that astronauts should non simply exist prepared to follow instructions, but to evaluate regions of geologic interest with a disquisitional eye and, perhaps, reply to measurements they've just made. Advice between the astronauts and scientists dorsum on Earth volition exist crucial too, and geology training ensures that the astronauts and their supporting scientists speak the aforementioned linguistic communication.
Advice betwixt a science squad, mission control, and astronauts on a spacewalk was a central theme of the well-nigh recent undersea analog, NEEMO (NASA's Extreme Surround Mission Operations; Abstruse 2422). In addition to operational testing, NEEMO is a favorite for testing out tools for spacewalking. One such tool builds upon lessons learned during Apollo 14's exploration of the Moon. Astronauts Alan Shepard and Ed Mitchell used a small cart known as the Modular Equipment Transporter (or, as the astronauts called it, the "lunar rickshaw") to haul tools and scientific instruments around on the lunar surface. The MET was officially deemed "adequate," only at ane point in the mission the ii astronauts simply picked it upwards and carried it, maxim, "It'll roll along here, except we tin can only move faster carrying information technology." Engineers at Johnson Infinite Center are working on a more constructive, lighter cart with removable tool kits for specific tasks (the "Modular Equipment Send System," or METS; Abstract 2350). Over 2 weeks on the seafloor, astronaut Kjell Lindgren and his NEEMO 22 crewmates shuttled the cart about between scientific sites, providing feedback on the design. For example, the modular design held bully potential to reduce the weight of the cart and brand it easier for the astronauts to pull it, but backfired if the crew later needed a tool that hadn't been included in a specific kit. The remainder between low-cal-weight, thoroughly planned kits and heavier, flexible kits is an ongoing surface area of improvement for the METS blueprint.
Learning from the by
Moonwalker Schmitt weighed in on the importance of the technological advances built upon Apollo feel, emphasizing the crucial office of intelligent engineering science in minimizing the time astronauts spend doing "grunt piece of work." "Make the machines do this," he said, "so that the humans can use their brains." Putting machines to work helps out in other ways: a pair of talks at LPSC (Abstracts 1470 and 2491) centered effectually the upshot that simple human footprints had on the reflectivity of the Moon's surface around scientific instruments. It turns out that by disturbing the dust effectually thermal probes buried in the lunar rock, the astronauts' boot prints changed the surface's insulating properties and affected measurements of heat flow from the lunar interior! If a rover had drilled the hole for the probes, scientists contend, the surface would not have been affected as strongly, leading to more authentic readings.
To exist clear, however, Apollo did a lot of things right. Nosotros're still learning from the work that astronauts like Jack Schmitt did while prospecting on the lunar surface near fifty years ago. One need only look at the days of LPSC talks summarizing the legacy of Apollo 17'southward lunar samples (this one sessionis but a unmarried instance). In addition, lunar scientists at LPSC were abuzz with debate on how best to utilize the Apollo Pristine Samples, which accept been sealed away since they were collected on the lunar surface, awaiting new technology that would delve deeper into their scientific treasure trove. That we are still learning from the Apollo samples afterwards 50 years is a testament to the fantabulous chore done by the astronauts and those who trained them. It's clear that equally long as we proceed asking questions, the Apollo samples will go on yielding answers.
In the meantime, we'll proceed building upon their legacy…preparing for the 24-hour interval when nosotros gather a new drove!
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Source: https://www.planetary.org/articles/20180522-return-to-the-moon-preparing-astronauts
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