MOON BASICS

It is not like we do not know a lot about our Moon. Since 1958 there have been explorations of the Moon by satellite and spacecraft including the 6 successful manned Apollo missions.  The last exploratory event involving the Moon was the LROC and LCROSS spacecraft search for water at the lunar poles.

The majority of our data, however, comes from the Luna and Apollo missions.  This underscores the advantages of shared, international programs of space exploration, and this occurred even when we were in a Cold War status with the then Soviet Union.

The discovery of water at the Moon's southern most pole increases the feasibility of a long-term human mission to the Moon. Regardless, there is more that must be learned before we can consider establishing a Moon Base. Much of that information must come from human spaceflight missions to the Moon where specific data is obtained that defines the areas and conditions that must exist to support a permanent settlement on the Moon. The following are some resources of information about Moon basics. Please click the highlighted links for access.

(1) A collection of information on the LROC/LCROSS project.
(2) A source of current images of the Moon with related data.
(3) A source about Lunar Geology. Note: You must log on to Moon Zoo for access.
(4) Earn an official certificate in Lunar Study and Observation from the Moon Society
(5) The Moon Society's optimistic report on the possibility of settlement on the Moon.
(6) A complete, official summary of the entire Apollo Moon Mission.

The listing above just scratches the surface, and as we continue, we will provide more detail links for your review.

CREDITS: (a) Header image: Artwork courtesy of NASA (b) Lunar lander over Moon: Actual photograph courtesy of NASA