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The moon has been a fascination for generations, captivating ancient Greek philosophers to modern day scientists. Throughout the centuries, the moon has become less of a mystery and more of an asset in understanding various space phenomena. As space technology continues to advance, we see a rise in missions to the moon and how studying it could be valuable to science. Now that we’ve figured out how to get to the moon, we can begin to ask questions of what we can learn from the moon and its habitat.

Lunar Habitats

As NASA pushes for sustained crew missions to the moon, a need for Lunar Habitats quickly comes into play. You could think of these habitats as bases, where crews would have adequate space for different systems, storage, and crew living. Unfortunately, it won’t be as simple as that sounds. The moon provides a challenging environment, requiring these habitats and bases to have systems that help and protect the crew such as radiation shielding, thermal control, waste management, and life support systems for example.

Why would we need a lunar base? As far as research and observing go, Earth provides many limitations. Although our atmosphere does a great job at keeping us alive, it doesn’t provide ideal conditions for observing space. Telescopes are a great way to get around this challenge, some powerful telescopes like the VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile is currently one of the most powerful telescopes on Earth. Or, the more recent JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) which has provided groundbreaking imagery in space. 

NTRS - Internal Layout of a Lunar Surface Habitat

The moon on the other hand, has no atmosphere which already solves one of our biggest issues with observing on Earth. Theoretically, if habitats can be built on the lunar surface then other infrastructure could be built too, providing us with optimal viewing and researching conditions. Below is an artist’s concept of what this base could look like.

Resource Extraction and Research

One of the biggest questions we have in the Astronomy world has to do with the origin of water in the solar system. There is a lot of speculation on how water came to be, whether that was through icy comets that came into contact with Earth, a rare type of meteor colliding with Earth, or even Earth’s early atmosphere initiating chemical processes.  

What we do know is that the moon could potentially provide an abundance of answers to these questions. Earth has gone through many geological changes since its formation, the moon on the other hand has not. The surface of the moon has remained largely unchanged with the exception of collisions with asteroids or comets. However, those collisions are nothing compared to Earth’s millions of years of volcanoes, ice ages, tsunamis, and plate tectonic shifts. All of these factors have changed the face of Earth, making it sustainable for us to live on but difficult in studying the conditions of early Earth.

You could think of the moon as a time capsule, an almost perfectly preserved picture of the early solar system conditions. By studying lunar rocks and craters, we can begin to understand how formation occurred in the early solar system and what conditions on Earth could have been like at that time. 

It has also been confirmed that there is ice present on the moon, concentrated at the poles. Recent studies have revealed that the moon has more ice and water on its surface than previously thought! Studying ice and water on the moon may help to explain how water formed in the early solar system, this would provide answers to some of Astronomy's largest questions!

Moon Rock Samples from Apollo Missions -KTLA

Autonomous Vehicles Vs. Humans

The rise of AI has been marked by significant statistics, 78% of organizations use AI which is a 55% increase from the previous year. With technology getting more advanced, it’s safe to assume we may be seeing some advancements in space technology as well.

We have examples of autonomous vehicles that have been used in the past as an exploration aid such as the LVR (Lunar Roving Vehicle) used in the Apollo missions or the Opportunity rover used on Mars. With recent statistics, it is expected that AI and robotics are to continue to improve and advance. Autonomous vehicles are very helpful when traversing new and challenging terrain, they offer consistent performance and can operate without a human controlling them. This makes them excellent candidates for missions both near and far, complex or simple. Autonomous systems also don’t face the same constraints that humans do, in terms of space flight or energy efficiency, autonomous vehicles have the one-up compared to humans who risk health during space flights and time constraints due to limited energy. 

However, as we’ve seen with the Opportunity rover, sometimes technology can fail. Even with advancements to reduce risk, there can be uncontrollable factors that put autonomous systems temporarily or permanently out of order. While humans may not compare to autonomous vehicles in the sense of consistency or operation, they do possess qualities that may give them the one-up. Critical thinking and adaptation is crucial for exploration missions to the moon, humans have the ability to provide unique insight for complex tasks. 

In summary, both autonomous vehicles and humans have their strengths. The choice to use one or the other may depend entirely on the mission goals, or risks of space travel. As we get used to the new influence of AI and robotics in our own lives, we may see similar things happening within space exploration as humans and robotics work together to explore new horizons. 

Yours truly,

Isabelle Kizans

Writer, Writers Team