The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, signed first by the major powers and subsequently by about 100 other countries, governs exploration and use of celestial bodies. “Who owns the moon is still up for grabs,” she said.
Americans may think the moon is theirs because they were the first to plant a flag on it. One reason for serious space exploration is global politics. Getting water from moon rocks would involve heating them in a still – a daunting process. They are spraying the moon all the time, and sometimes they stick.” Hydrogen is one of the components of water – the “H” in H20. “Solar wind is composed of highly charged particles, some of which are hydrogen ions that bond with microscopic particles. “By far the most common way water gets to the moon is by solar wind,” said Dyar. Some of the water is preserved in “permanently shadowed craters” where the sun cannot reach it. Comets are made of ice, said Dyar, and the heat of the impact melts the ice. Water would also come from comets that have crashed on the moon. It’s a concept that’s hard to understand for people who are used to water flowing freely. Some water was formed at the same time as the moon was formed, she said, and is “locked” in its minerals in tiny amounts. “We have to understand how water got to the moon, how much is still there, and how hard it would be to extract water for human consumption for a settlement,” she said. The challenge is to find out where the water is and how to tap it, said Dyar.
“That’s why it’s difficult to imagine living on it.” “The moon is a very dry place,” said Dyar. She will be studying minerals on the moon and other airless bodies such as asteroids.Īmong her tasks: Figure out how future residents on the moon can get at that chemical compound that is essential to human existence – water. The project involves nine teams around the country, of which Dyar serves on three. The “virtual” part refers to the fact that the monthly meetings and collaboration between team members takes place mostly through video-conferencing. Now Dyar is serving on the Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute. Mind you, I plan to live another 50 years!” “In my lifetime,” she said, “we will establish some kind of permanent station on the moon. Scientists like Dyar have been working on the prospect of colonizing the moon for decades. “They had been there a few times,” said Dyar, “but it took time to work up the courage to send people there to stay.” Darby Dyar, professor of astronomy and geology at Mount Holyoke College, says the moon is to people today what the New World was to Europeans 600 years ago.
0 kommentar(er)
