Moon's Face Reveals Extreme Cosmic Abuse

It'll be no big surprise for most of us the moon has been well and truly battered over the years of it's life, but I saw this on space.com and thought some of you on ATS may like to see the pictures, NASA's scientists have for the first time put together a comprehensive catalogue of large craters on the moon, as well as studied the minerals and found some unusual silica-rich areas.












Space.com

What amazingly beautiful pictures!

The moon is definitely being lined up for a major mining expedition....

Cool pics so thanks for sharing.

reply to post by Nammu



Hi Nammu, yeah they are good pic's, I would like to see us go back to the moon to be honest, as for mining it, I'm not sure that would be such a good idea, the moon is already moving away from the Earth, if we go and start removing large portions of it and making it lighter we could accelerate that, doubt it, but hey.. it's something to think about I know helium-3 mining is much talked about for fuel for fusion reactors.
Depending on who you speak to here on ATS you'll be forgiven for thinking we are already there as well as little green men on the far side.. But I personally think it's ours it's dead and it has water, we haven't gone back due to lack of interest in the general public and funds cut by the US government, other countries and the private sector are taking an interest in the moon so maybe humans will be going back in our lifetimes… let's hope so!

Moon is moving away from Earth by about an inch (2.5 cm) each year

Mining the Moon

reply to post by Majestic RNA


I don't see us giong back unless there's a profit in it. The new space race, which has begun already, is going to be about money rather than exploration. The first country to control all those H3 and minerals will have a lot of power in their hands. I can see wars starting over that. I don't see it getting divided up evenly between all countries that's for sure.

Originally posted by Nammu
reply to post by Majestic RNA

 

. I don't see it getting divided up evenly between all countries that's for sure.

yeah that's true, whoever goes up there to get the resources in the first place will either keep them or sell to the highest bidder... it's the human way would be nice to see all races from throughout the world club together to get there mine and share, but that's about as likely as the pope being welcome in an school shower block.

Nice new pics.

Do you think if we stripped away all the vegetation and dirt of the the earths suface it would look similar in terms of impact damage,or do you you think the moon acts as a kind of space sponge,mopping up much of the debris which may have hit earth?

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


The earth does have a lot of craters that are hidden in the manner you describe, but nowhere near as many craters as the moon. The main reason is the earth's atmosphere. If a huge meteor smashes into the moon, it strikes at full size and speed. If a huge meteor is headed for the earth, friction from the atmosphere slows it down and sometimes breaks it up, or even vaporizes it if it is small enough.

You can bet that there's going to be a variety of materials up there. They should at least go back to the moon to experiment and find the capabilities of these materials. Also it'll serve as a stepping stone to explore the rest of our solar system with manned flights.

reply to post by DragonsDemesne

To a huge meteor (read, asteroid) the Earth's atmosphere is insignificant.

The major lunar impacts occurred billions of years ago, at the same time the Earth was receiving similar blows. The difference is that the Moon has been geologically dead for billions of years and the scars remain. The Earth, on the other hand has recycled its crust a few times. Tectonics and erosion have hidden the evidence of all but the very most recent impacts.

Well maybe if that moon didn't come home late every night and smell of whiskey and cigarettes I wouldn't have to beat it. "Man in the moon" my butt! More like "men on the moon!" It deserves it. I do it because I love it. I love you, moon. I didn't mean to hit you....you know I do it because I love you. I just got a little carried away.You come back here, moon, we'll make up.