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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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Colonize the Moon? NASA to Scope It Out

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(Newser) – NASA will launch a mission Wednesday to gather information about how humans might someday colonize the moon, the Los Angeles Times reports. A robotic orbiter will provide detailed maps of the topography and first-of-their kind peeks inside craters where ice might be hiding. “We're going to provide NASA with what is needed to get human beings back to the moon and to stay there for an extended duration,” said one mission official.

A second spacecraft will punch a giant crater in the moon so scientists can poke around the resulting plume, again in a hunt for frozen water. “This should be spectacular,” said a project scientist. “It should be a very visible impact from Earth” for amateur astronomers. That comes in about 4 months. The new topographical maps will help determine where the crater goes.

A NASA launch.
A NASA launch.   (AP Photo)
An artist's rendering of a Japanese lunar probe.
An artist's rendering of a Japanese lunar probe.   (AP Photo)
The Moon up close.
The Moon up close.   (AP Photo)
A slightly distorted gibbous moon intersecting Earth's atmosphere photographed by an Expedition 19 crew member on the International Space Station.
A slightly distorted gibbous moon intersecting Earth's atmosphere photographed by an Expedition 19 crew member on the International Space Station.   (AP Photo)
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40 comments
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Doctor_Zaius
Jun 13, 09 2:19 PM CDT
I wonder if the 18% gravity will be enough to stop bone and muscle loss or is this a one way journey? Reply
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+5
IN RESPONSE:
doingtherightthing
Jun 13, 09 2:29 PM CDT
monkey boy brilliant deduction..........nobody is going to be born there and die there on the moon. What makes you think they'll find ice there. Its a rock nothing more nothing less. Somehow your over thinking again with that pea brain
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-8
IN RESPONSE:
Doctor_Zaius
Jun 13, 09 2:58 PM CDT
No actually it's the NASA scientists that think they will find water on the moon. It's just a hunch but I'm betting you're not a NASA scientist.
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+7
IN RESPONSE:
Rob
Jun 13, 09 5:22 PM CDT
It's a good question and the only answer is that no one really knows. The Soviet era space program worked mostly on space medicine while the American program developed capability. The clues to what we need to do may be in the data from the Soviet astronauts medical records. But if I had to take a guess, I bet Lunar gravity will at least slow atrophy.
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0
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SPH
Jun 13, 09 5:50 PM CDT
I believe with weights added to shoulders and arms while working on a treadmill or stepper bone density can be maintained....
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