NO DILEMMA: TO BOLDY GO..or..TO WISELY GO..WHERE?

Desert Rats Testing Lunar Rover - NASA

I love that Star Trek goal, but we are not yet at the trekkie level of space exploration. Shameful? Good grief, no! If all we needed were dreams and imagination then yes we would be there, but dreams and imagination are just incentives. We need hard, realistic science, engineering and new technology to materialize those visions. Right now, we are sort of stumbling and to prevent a serious fall, we need to focus. In our opinion the prime focus should be a return to the Moon. Why?

We have discussed some of the reasons in an earlier blog entitled, Been There, Done That..., but it is time to amplify the reasons and to point out that our return to the Moon is a vital and essential first step to our exploration of the planet Mars and other members of our solar system.

• Despite our ongoing satellite and robotic testing as well as our ISS experience, we need to evaluate extended human exposure to low gravity, low atmosphere and high and variable cosmic rad environments to perfect our safe habitat and spacesuit designs. We need to do this on a planetary body (the Moon) that is close to Earth and therefore more quickly accessible for extra support or even emergency evacuation with a reasonably quick return to Earth.
• Many of the geologic explorations that we can perform on the Moon are not just a preface to our efforts on Mars, but will present us with vital data on the solar system's formation that will definitely benefit our understanding of conditions on Mars and other planetary bodies within our solar system.
• The construction and utilization of a Moon Base habitat will evaluate these designs with the overall goal of a standard design suitable for Mars and perhaps other planetary bodies, including other moons. If design changes are necessary, they can be more readily evaluated on the Moon where access is faster and less expensive. The idea here is when we do set out for Mars, we do so with more answers than questions and experienced preparations for both the journey and extended human operations on that planet.
• In line with the first item above, all of these planetary bodies are hostile. We need to gather as much data and acclimation to this kind of setting before venturing further out into the solar system. In fact it is highly possible that our Moon will be more hostile in many ways than Mars. Our preparation for that situation certainly arms us to handle Mars with more assurance and skill.
• Geological, geophysical and geochemical analysis of the Moon will inform us about many features that we will find common on other non-gas-giant planetary bodies. Finding this out at a convenient location and then making necessary adjustments to our deep space plans increases both our success and safety on Mars and its moons.
• Although we will be able to view Earth from Mars (with telescopic help) our view of Earth from the Moon will greatly enhance our global efforts to preserve and protect Earth's vital environment. Yes, this is more emotional than logical, but highly valuable as an important incentive. For years to come, Earth will be our key operational base, wherever we go, and if we let it decay through our negligence we directly endanger both the success and scope of our entire deep space exploration plans.

So we not boldly go? Well we always go into space exploration boldly and bravely, but we should never go blindly. The above observations and suggestions improve the chance that we would never venture into the unknown, unawares. We then should go boldly and wisely? Of course, and again we always strive to do so, but as experience has shown us, some of our wisdom is acquired in process rather than before hand. This is a solid justification for going to the Moon first.  There will be moments of acquired wisdom, just as we had on our first exploration of the Moon. This time we will use all of that past experience to further extend our ability to meet the unexpected effectively and safely. Doing this on a Moon exploration program will definitely increase our success when, wiser and bolder we then move on to Mars.

Lastly, we currently have a sense of urgency because we are facing a severe cutback of our exploration goals. Deciding on a well researched and designed Moon Base program could allow us to get back on track. Additionally, by recognizing that what we accomplish on the Moon will enrich our efforts on Mars, makes it all worthwhile and refreshes our focus. Anxiety is replaced by purpose and sound planning. Eagerness is channeled productively rather than remaining an itch that irritates when it should motivate.

Yes we will go to Mars, and when we go, we will be better prepared, and wiser. Therefore.we go with great confidence that our boldness and courage are never misdirected or unsuccessful.

CREDITS:

Image of the new Moon/Mars Rover and the Desert RATS crew. Image courtesy of NASA.