Returning to the Moon

So I have been absent for a few weeks from the blog. Well, at least I didn't abandon you all like we did to the moon. Thanks to China, after 37 years we have finally put another craft on the surface of the moon. The Chang'e-3 lander contained a rover called Yutu, or Jade Rabbit in Chinese. After a landing on Saturday everything seems to be go for the little rover.

The rover has a twofold mission; to explore the landing area, the dark lava plains of Bay of Rainbows in the north of Mare Ibrium, as well as deploying a telescope on the surface. The Bay of Rainbows has piqued the interests of the China National Space Agency due to its geological features. Investigation of the lava plains will lead to greater insights into the history of the moon, from when there was volcanic activity on the surface. These lava flows are presumed to have left behind lava tubes, as occurs in lava flows on Earth. Lava tubes are formed by hotter flowing lava accumulating in channels that run through cooled lava. These tunnels can be small, about 100 mm diameter, up to very large tunnels several metres in diameter. I recently visited one at Mount Kilauea, Hawaii that was large enough to take a leisurely stroll through.

These structures under the lunar surface would be perfect for future human settlement as they will easily convert to a sealed environment, with the benefit of having radiation deflecting rock above. The lack of atmosphere on the moon allows for all radiation from the sun to contact the surface; a very dangerous long-term environment for any life. The importance of finding and exploring these structures is important to future space efforts.

To aid in this underground investigation, the rover carries a ground penetrating radar system, estimated to be able to detect structural changes down to about 150m below the lunar surface. The rover also carries a scoop with a spectrometer to analyse lunar regolith samples.

Deploying a telescope on the moon is of great interest to astronomers due to the lack of atmosphere, the same reason why the Hubble telescope was so successful also. Looking through an constantly shifting atmosphere at distant stars can prove to have its difficulties.  The lander also carries an ultraviolet camera in the aim of photographing the Earth's plasmasphere, a distant part of the atmosphere where the Earth's magnetic field deflects incoming radiation from the sun. Although the plasmasphere has been mapped before, it has only been mapped from within. The new photographs will confirm the structure of the plasmasphere from the outside.

The new rover is part of the beginning of China's space program. Previously two orbiters have been successfully launched by the program, and there are plans for many more including a mission to return rock and regolith samples back to Earth in 2017. With South Korea and other countries also initiating space programs in the last year, it is definitely an exciting time for humanity. The collaborative efforts of space exploration are proving to be beyond politics. It's time to be optimistic about our futures.