<h2>Uninviting Environment</h2>
<p>Space agencies are <a href="https://futurism.com/three-reasons-moon-mission-nasa">working hard</a> to get humans back to the surface of the Moon. But it&#8217;s not exactly the most inviting place.</p>
<p>Astronauts during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 may not have had any health incidents while they were gleefully bouncing around on the lunar surface, as a <a href="https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/A11_PAOMissionReport.html">NASA mission report</a> from the time points out. But they knew that lunar dust wasn&#8217;t their friend — it could <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625012-000-the-gritty-problem-of-moon-dust/">irritate their lungs</a>, cause their Moon buggies to overheat — it even started <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080924191552.htm">degrading</a> their spacesuits.</p>
<h2>Hydroxyl Radicals</h2>
<p>And now, scientists have collected even more evidence that Moon dust could be really terrible for us. By studying samples of dust — or regolith — from the lunar surface, scientists at Stony Brook University in New York <a href="https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm18/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/440491">found</a> that it could react with human cells to create so-called &#8220;hydroxyl radicals&#8221; — highly reactive particles that have have been linked to lung cancers in the past, <em>New Scientist</em> <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2188164-breathing-in-moon-dust-could-release-toxins-in-astronauts-lungs/">reports</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s a major health concern for future astronauts,&#8221; Donald Hendrix, leader of the study at Stony Brook University, <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2188164-breathing-in-moon-dust-could-release-toxins-in-astronauts-lungs/">tells</a> <em>New Scientist</em>.</p>
<h2>Lunar Cancer</h2>
<p>And it gets worse. A different study has found that lunar dust could cause <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2017GH000125">damage to cells&#8217; DNA</a>, which could eventually lead to cancer. The study exposed mouse brain cells, and human lung cells to simulated lunar soil. The results were discouraging: <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/139182/breathing-lunar-dust-could-give-astronauts-bronchitis-and-even-lung-cancer/">90 percent</a> of human lung cells and mouse neurons died, according to <em>Universe Today</em>.</p>
<p>The toxicity of lunar dust is going to be a big problem for any human planning on wandering around on the surface of the Moon in the future. &#8220;Dust is the number one concern in returning to the Moon,&#8221; says Apollo astronaut John Young, as <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18625012-000-the-gritty-problem-of-moon-dust/">quoted</a> by New Scientist. But it likely won&#8217;t hold us back completely.</p>
<p><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2188164-breathing-in-moon-dust-could-release-toxins-in-astronauts-lungs/">Breathing in moon dust could release toxins in astronauts’ lungs</a> [New Scientist]</p>
<p><em><strong>More on Moon dust: <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-europe-3d-printing-fake-moon-dust-regolith-objects">Scientists Are 3D Printing Fake Moon Dust Into Useful Objects</a></strong></em></p>


“Dust is the number one concern in returning to the Moon.”

Breathing in Moon dust could be even more toxic than we thought

Lunar Dust

A new study from scientists at Stony Brook University found that moon dust particles could react with human cells — and potentially lead to cancer.

Breathing in Moon Dust Could be Even More Toxic Than We Thought

"It’s a major health concern for future astronauts." 

<h2>Costs and Effects</h2>
<p>Not everything worthwhile has to be pricey, or so the <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)</a> wants to prove with its planned <a href="https://www.isro.gov.in/gslv-f10-chandrayaan-2-mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chandrayaan-2 mission</a> to the Moon. Although it&#8217;s the second India-led lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-2 would be the first time ISRO would attempt <a href="https://futurism.com/india-land-moon-rover-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to send a lander and a rover on the lunar surface</a>.</p>
<p>While that already is a feat for any space-fairing nation, ISRO&#8217;s main selling-point for its new program is its low cost. The mission is so cheap that it would cost you more to embark on a <em>fictional</em> — albeit expensive — space journey like the $165-million sci-fi flick <i>Interstellar.</i> For comparison, the Chandrayaan-2 costs only around $123-million, thanks to a process described by ISRO chairman K Sivan as &#8220;simplification&#8221;.</p>
<figure class="wp-caption"><img class="wp-image-123942 size-large aligncenter" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/02/isro.png" alt="Image credit: ISRO" width="798" height="333" />Image credit: ISRO</figure>
<p>&#8220;Simplifying the system, miniaturizing the complex big system, strict quality control and maximizing output from a product make our space missions frugal and cost-effective,&#8221; <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/chandrayaan-2-mission-cheaper-than-hollywood-film-interstellar/articleshow/62990361.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sivan told </a><i><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/chandrayaan-2-mission-cheaper-than-hollywood-film-interstellar/articleshow/62990361.cms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times of India</a></i>. &#8220;We keep strict vigil on each and every stage of development of a spacecraft or a rocket and, therefore, we are able to avoid wastage of products, which helps us minimize the mission cost.&#8221;</p>
<h2>A Lunar Presence</h2>
<p>From the perspective of all other space missions scheduled in the next couple of months — which include the launch of<a href="https://tess.gsfc.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> NASA&#8217;s exoplanet hunting spacecraft TESS</a>, as well as their <a href="https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">InSight Mars lander</a> — the Chandrayaan-2&#8217;s mission to the Moon might not seem like much. Nothing could be further from the truth.</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E-lq2ErdlXY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>With lunar missions so few and far between in recent years, it&#8217;s about time humanity goes back to the Moon. This time, with the Chandrayaan-2, we&#8217;re going back with more power than NASA&#8217;s Apollo missions, said minister of state Jitendra Singh, <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/indias-second-moon-mission-chandrayaan-2-could-lift-off-in-april-jitendra-singh-1813669" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speaking to <em>NDTV</em></a>. The goal, Singh noted, would be to gather data that &#8220;may open up possibilities of future habitation of the Moon.&#8221;</p>
<p>India&#8217;s new lunar mission is set to follow the Chandrayaan-1, whose findings helped confirm the presence of <a href="https://www.space.com/7328-official-water-moon.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">water on the Moon&#8217;s surface</a> back in 2009. With the Chandrayaan-2, India expects to discover more about the Earth&#8217;s next-door galactic neighbor. The program &#8220;will be a breakthrough mission not only for India but for the entire world,&#8221; Singh added.</p>
<p>Observers — <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-should-already-have-lunar-base/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">including SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk</a> — have often pointed out how a lunar base could benefit all other space exploration programs in the works, especially those that aim for Mars. NASA&#8217;s Mars program, for example, relies on the Moon as a potential jump off point. From this perspective, setting up a useful fixture on our satellite is long overdue.</p>


A lunar jump-off point would boost our efforts to conquer Mars.

India's Chandrayaan-2 has more power than NASA's Apollo missions, but cheaper

Off World

India's new space mission will strengthen our presence on the moon, with a view of one day providing a jump-off point as humanity moves toward Mars.

India's Chandrayaan-2 Has More Power Than NASA's Apollo Missions, But Cheaper

Going back to the moon would cost less than producing the film "Interstellar."

India’s Chandrayaan-2 Has More Power Than NASA’s Apollo Missions, But Cheaper

<h2>To the Moon</h2>
<p>New research shows that our Moon once had an atmosphere <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012821X17304971#fg0010">3 to 4 billion years ago</a>. It formed when volcanic eruptions rocked the ancient satellite, propelling gases above its surface too rapidly for them to seep into space. The surface of the Moon is peppered with impact basins filled with volcanic basalt. These basalt plains, called maria, were formed when plumes of magma from inside the Moon erupted to the surface, creating lava flows. Astronauts from the Apollo missions brought back samples from the maria to Earth, and we now know that the lava flows contained carbon monoxide and other gas components, sulfur, and even the building blocks of water.</p>
<p>Our Moon has no atmosphere now, as it lacks a strong enough magnetic field and sufficient mass to hold an atmosphere around it. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/briankoberlein/2017/10/06/the-moon-once-had-an-atmosphere/#279d8591693b" target="_blank">Unlike Earth</a>, which has sufficient mass and magnetism to hang on to an atmosphere, any atmosphere around the Moon would quickly be stripped away by solar winds. However, the new research indicates that the Moon <em>did</em> briefly have an atmosphere before that happened.</p>
<figure id="attachment_105448" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-105448 size-full" title="moon-atmosphere" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/10/newnasastudy.jpg" alt="Image Credit: NASA MSFC" width="800" height="480" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: NASA MSFC</figcaption></figure>
<p>The team used the samples to calculate how much gas rose and accumulated to form the transient atmosphere. They found that the volcanic activity peaked about 3.5 billion years ago, which was when the atmosphere was at its thickest. Once it formed, it persisted for around 70 million years before it was stripped away and lost in space. During the period when the Moon had an atmosphere, it was almost three times closer to Earth, and therefore would have appeared much bigger in the sky.</p>
<h2>Boots On the Moon</h2>
<p>Universities Space Research Association (USRA) Senior Staff Scientist <a href="https://phys.org/news/2017-10-nasa-moon-atmosphere.html" target="_blank">David Kring told Phys.org</a>, “This work dramatically changes our view of the Moon from an airless rocky body to one that used to be surrounded by an atmosphere more prevalent than that surrounding Mars today.”</p>
<figure id="attachment_105449" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-105449 size-large" title="moon-atmosphere" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/10/Moon-atmosphere-1200x608.jpg" alt="Image Credit: Debra Needham" width="1200" height="608" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: Debra Needham</figcaption></figure>
<p>This new information has important implications for future astronauts, <a href="https://futurism.com/the-u-s-officially-says-they-are-sending-humans-to-the-moon/" target="_blank">planned lunar missions</a> and space exploration. The research suggests that volatiles from the atmosphere may have been trapped near the lunar poles in cold, permanently shadowed areas. If this is true, there may already be a source of ice on the Moon that astronauts and colonists can use for drinking water, growing food, and other needs. Icy deposits stocked with captured volatiles could also provide fuel and air for both lunar surface operations and even missions beyond the Moon. And whatever already exists on the Moon won&#8217;t need to be ported from Earth — a tremendous advantage given the expense of carrying cargo into space.</p>


The atmosphere was thickest during the peak in volcanic activity about 3.5 billion years ago and, when created, would have persisted for about 70 million years before being lost to space.

Surprise - Our Moon Once Had an Atmosphere

New research on samples from the Apollo missions shows that our Moon once had an atmosphere 3 to 4 billion years ago.

It Turns Out That Our Moon Once Had an Atmosphere

We need to go back more than ever.

<h2>Another Giant Leap</h2>
<p>Back in May, renowned physicist Stephen Hawking made yet another doomsday prediction. He said that <a href="https://futurism.com/stephen-hawking-humanity-only-has-100-years-left-on-earth-before-doomsday/" target="_blank">humanity has 100 years left on Earth</a>, which knocked 900 years off the prediction he made in November 2016, which had given humanity 1,000 years left. With his new estimate, Hawking suggested the only way to prolong humanity&#8217;s existence is for us to find a new home, on another planet.</p>
<p>Speaking at the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40345048" target="_blank">Starmus Festival</a><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40345048"> in Trondheim</a>, Norway on Tuesday, Hawking reiterated his point: &#8220;If humanity is to continue for another million years, our future lies in boldly going where no one else has gone before,&#8221; he explained, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40345048" target="_blank">according to the </a><i><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40345048" target="_blank">BBC</a></i>. Specifically, Hawking said that we should aim for another Moon landing by 2020, and work to build a lunar base in the next 30 years — projects that could help prepare us to send human beings to Mars by 2025.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds. It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth,&#8221; Hawking added.</p>
<figure class="wp-caption"><img class="wp-image-87680 size-large aligncenter" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/06/slide3-1200x653.jpg" alt="NASA's lunar stopover. Image credit: NASA" width="798" height="380" />NASA&#8217;s lunar stopover. Image credit: <i>NASA</i></figure>
<h2>Multiplanetary Species</h2>
<p>Hawking&#8217;s plea comes almost 45 years since NASA&#8217;s last lunar mission, and he&#8217;s not the only one thinking about revisiting the Earth&#8217;s cosmic satellite. Even U.S. president <a href="https://futurism.com/president-trump-wants-to-send-humans-back-to-the-moon-by-2020/" target="_blank">Donald Trump wants to</a> put a human on the Moon by 2020. Various plans, both from government space agencies as well as private ones, are already in the works. <a href="https://futurism.com/its-official-humans-are-going-to-mars-nasa-has-unveiled-their-mission/" target="_blank">NASA&#8217;s mission to Mars</a>, for example, notes that setting up an <a href="https://futurism.com/a-space-station-that-orbits-the-moon-may-be-on-the-way/" target="_blank">orbital lunar station</a> would be a key step for a future mission to the Red Planet.</p>
<p>Other nations are also working towards the same goal: <a href="https://futurism.com/china-and-europe-may-build-a-moon-village-in-the-2020s/" target="_blank">China and Europe</a> also hope to<a href="https://futurism.com/esas-plan-for-a-moon-village-is-slowly-starting-to-come-together/" target="_blank"> reach the Moon by the 2020s</a>, and other countries are <a href="https://futurism.com/global-superpowers-are-racing-to-build-a-base-on-the-moon/" target="_blank">scrambling to set up</a> their own lunar bases, too. It&#8217;s an echo of the Cold War era space race — except now, there are more nations in play.</p>
<p>For private space agencies, the Moon seems to be more of a special tourist attraction than a permanent domicile: SpaceX is already preparing for its first <a href="https://futurism.com/elon-musk-the-rocket-that-will-eventually-take-humans-to-the-moon-will-launch-in-4-months/" target="_blank">privately-funded round trip to the Moon</a>, while Jeff Bezos envisions an opportunity for <a href="https://futurism.com/amazons-founder-wants-to-deliver-supplies-to-the-moon/" target="_blank">a special delivery service</a> to facilitate the construction of any permanent off world settlement. For Hawking, though, aiming for the Moon (again) is not only about survival, but strengthening humanity while we&#8217;re still on Earth — for however many years we have left here.</p>
<p>&#8220;I hope it would unite competitive nations in a single goal, to face the common challenge for us all,&#8221; he said. &#8220;A new and ambitious space program would excite (young people), and stimulate interest in other areas, such as astrophysics and cosmology&#8221;.</p>


Speaking at the Starmus Festival in Trondheim, he spoke about the importance of a lunar mission as a stepping stone for getting us to Mars and beyond.

/Lunar Mission

Lunar Dust

Breathing in Moon Dust Could be Even More Toxic Than We Thought

Off World

India’s Chandrayaan-2 Has More Power Than NASA’s Apollo Missions, But Cheaper

Off World

It Turns Out That Our Moon Once Had an Atmosphere

Off World

Stephen Hawking: “I Am Convinced That Humans Need to Leave Earth”

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