With just days until the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission which saw Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk on the lunar surface, Dr Mahesh Anand, Reader in Planetary Science and Exploration at The Open University, said the presence of water on the Moon and the possibility of growing crops there made it a viable place for further exploration. Dr Anand is part of a team of UK-based scientists which has put together the Living on the Moon! exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, which runs until Sunday. It has brought together lunar research from the past 50 years and showcase cutting-edge technology which pave the way for future lunar exploration over the next 50 years.
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Dr Anand told Express.co.uk: “Technologies developed during Apollo provided a strong basis for later developments in rocketry and spacecraft design etc.
“Apollo showed that humans can survive travelling through space, land on the Moon and return safely to Earth.
“Therefore, technologies needed for short term exploration of the Moon are paving the way for developing new technologies for supporting longer-term stays potentially spanning to weeks to months.”
There were considerable technical challenges involved in staying for longer time periods on the Moon, including protecting astronauts from dangerous cosmic radiation and micro meteorite bombardments.
Could moon bases soon be a reality? (Image: GETTY)
He added: “For this, shelters need to be built and technologies are being developed to address this topic.
“Also, for survival, astronauts need to carry essential resources such as water and food all of which cost money if we were to take everything from the Earth. Instead, technologies are being explored by which water could be produced using local lunar soil and rocks which will drastically reduce the cost and reliance on ferrying water from the Earth.
“The Moon experiences wild swings in temperatures during its day and night (the difference between highest and lowest temperature can be more than 300 degrees centigrade).
“Thus, technologies are needed to shield astronauts from such large temperature fluctuations and allow their bodies to cope.
An iconic picture of Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface – Neil Armstrong is reflected in his visor (Image: GETTY)
“We do not yet know the effect of 1/6th of the gravity on human body over an extended periods of time although experiments from International Space Station are helping this field of research.”
Despite the considerable challenges involved, Dr Anand stressed the enormous benefits of a return to the Moon, 47 years after the last manned mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.
He said: “Finding of water on the Moon and the rise of new Space players such as China, India and Japan in the last decade has heralded a new ‘Space Race’.
“Even private players are getting involved as they see business opportunities in Space and specifically at the Moon.
Moon bases could pave the way for exploration of deeper space (Image: GETTY)
Dr Mahesh Anand is an advocate of further lunar exploration (Image: Open University)
“Because of the possibility of extracting and using the lunar resources for supporting longer-term human exploration of the Solar System, the Moon has once again come into limelight.
“Water is certainly present on the Moon. In addition, new experiments and technologies being developed could be used to manufacture water using lunar soil.
“The efficiency of these processes are still being investigated so it will take some time to produce water on the Moon in any measurable quantities. We should park the question of growing crops on the Moon until then!”
As for whether Elon Musk and SpaceX would be better advised trying to build bases on the Moon rather than heading straight for Mars, Dr Anand said: “That is a matter of opinion but there are scientific benefits of exploring both Moon and Mars and because the Moon is in Earth’s backyard, we can test many technologies on the Moon that will ultimately be required to explore Mars with humans.”
Nobody has walked on the surface of the Moon since Eugene Cernan in 1972 (Image: GETTY)
And he stressed the ways in which, decades after the Apollo missions, mankind was still benefiting from them.
He explained: “The scientific community is benefitting immensely by the samples brought back by the Apollo astronauts.
“Our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System is in large part due to Apollo samples.
“The recent finding of water in the Moon has only come about because of the availability of Apollo samples even 50 years since they were first collected.”
For more details about the Royal Society’s summer exhibition, click here
