by Playfuls Staff |
19th February 2007
For the next lunar expedition astronauts should be taught lessons about intensive cross-country skiing, as it is more effective than bunny-hopping on the Moon’s surface, says former astronaut Harrison Schmitt.[more]
Dr. Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is a geologist, astronaut and former U.S. senator. He is the twelfth person to walk on the Moon; to date, he and his crewmate Eugene Andrew Cernan are the last two to walk there.
He confessed that for him the “sand-skiing” gave him an advantage compared to his colleagues (who used what he called an inelegant "bunny hop" gait), allowing him to “glide” easier on Moon’s surface.
"Once you get a rhythm going it’s very easy," said geologist Schmitt. "You can propel yourself with a push. On the moon you don't slide, you glide above the surface." He also predicted that settlers at NASA’s planned moon base will be able to experience lunar skiing holidays.
Dr Schmitt told this to attendees of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where he showed video footage taken during his 1972 mission to the moon. He told delegates that he was drawing on his own experience on the lunar surfaces, where he found the techniques of cross-country skiing very useful.
Schmitt recommended the Taurus-Littrow valley as a potential destination for a lunar ski resort. "Part of their recreation will be downhill skiing. I think there are some excellent downhill skiing areas," he added.
In a dialogue with fellow astronaut Gene Cernan, recorded during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, Schmitt had this to say about lunar-skiing: "Too bad I don’t have my skis! ... Whoo! Can’t keep my edges. Shhhoomp. Shhhoomp. Little hard to get a good hip rotation."
Skis are optional, but poles would be useful at keeping balance, although they should be adapted for the lunar conditions that involve the low gravity. "Settlers are going to have a delightful time on the moon. I wish everybody could share that experience," he told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco.
NASA has recently completed the Ares I crew launch vehicle system requirements review -- bringing the agency one step closer to developing a new mode of space transportation for astronauts on missions to explore the moon, Mars and other destinations. The system requirements review confirmed that the Ares I system requirements have been completed, validated and are now responsive to mission requirements.
NASA is also considering extending its involvement in the International Space Station (ISS) from 2016 to 2020, a decision that could have major implications for its Constellation program.
At the beginning of February, NASA's Constellation program manager Jeffrey Hanley revealed the agency’s interest in extending ISS use at a ceremony transferring the Kennedy Space Center's operations and check-out building to Orion crew exploration vehicle developer Lockheed Martin. The building is to be modified for Orion final assembly, check-out and acceptance testing.
In previous NASA budget projections the US space agency’s spend on ISS is tailed off by 2016, the original date for the agreed end of the ISS's life. Under this plan NASA would retain its pre-2016 ISS funding levels and use the money to develop Constellation's Ares V cargo launch vehicle, lunar lander and lunar-capable block 2 Orion. But continued ISS operations would bring that development into doubt.
Such a decision would increase the number of production Orions Lockheed would provide. Previously, NASA wanted two ISS mission Block 1 Orions a year from 2014 to 2016. If the agency decides to continue ISS operations for another four years it will need eight more Orions.
NASA’s unmanned Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, will strike the moon near its south pole in January 2009. It will search for water and other materials that astronauts could use at a future lunar outpost.
NASA is in search of new ways of using fuel resources on the Moon to avoid having to send them into orbit from Earth. "We have to use the resources on the moon in order to be self-sufficient," said Peter Worden at NASA’s Ames Research Centre in California. "We want to use the moon to learn to live and work on Mars," said Wendell Mendell at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre in Houston.
The two major advantages that a permanent lunar mission would bring are clear-sky observations of deep-space (the Moon has no atmosphere, so no interference would occur during the scientific work) and the ad-hoc study of lunar soil, which will provide useful information about the sun and the formation of the solar system.
Despite President Bush’s pledge to fund the US’ return to the Moon, Schmitt says that the mission’s costs will be partially covered by the private sector.
The 1967 international Outer Space Treaty prevents nations from claiming sovereignty over any celestial bodies, but does allow governments or investors to make money by using resources they gather in space.
