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Astronomers make wish list
29/11/2006 16:51 - (SA)
Baltimore - Astronomers are meeting this week to put together their wish list for deep-space astronomy projects when the United States resumes exploration of the Moon with a new crew vehicle, the Orion, and new Ares rockets.
The meeting at the Space Telescope Science Institute on the campus of Johns Hopkins University, which co-ordinates the use of the orbiting Hubble, comes a week before Nasa is to unveil its Moon exploration strategy at a conference in Houston.
Unlike the Apollo missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the new technology will enable Nasa to reach any part of the Moon, including areas that are constantly bathed in sunlight, which will allow for continuous solar power production, and areas that constantly face away from the Earth, and its radio noise.
Paul Spudis of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory said the Moon is full of advantages and hazards.
The surface is pockmarked with numerous bowl-shaped craters that can be adapted for use by astronomers who could take advantage of the natural parabolic shape to create large antennas or other receivers, Spudis said.
The lack of atmosphere makes it ideal for observation because there are no clouds to obscure the view. However, that also means even small meteors easily reach the surface, which has been pounded into a fine talcum powder-like consistency in many places.
That dust could prove to be a health hazard for astronauts, who might inhale it, Spudis said.
At least half of the dust is crushed glass formed by meteorite strikes that melted the surface. Much of the dust contains iron, which has led some to suggest using microwaves to melt the surface and form a roadway of sorts to keep the dust down, he said.
All in all, "I contend the Moon is a benign environment, it's not a hostile environment," Spudis said.
Scott Horowitz, a Nasa associate administrator, told the astronomers that the space agency is still early in the design stage but wants significant capability to transport scientific instruments, living quarters and other cargo to the Moon.
About one-fourth of the 125-metric-ton launch vehicle being designed will be payload, Horowitz said.
"We're still trading off how much is available on the exploration lander for scientific payload, we still don't know the exact number," Horowitz said.
Nasa is planning on using a new crew vehicle, the Orion, and new Ares rockets to return to the Moon. Nasa hopes to begin flying Orion with astronauts by 2014 and return to the Moon no later than 2020.
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