Dale.Amon@H.GP.CS.CMU.EDU (01/31/89)
> (Quick, how many open questions about the moon can you think of? > How many of those could be resolved by returning there?) Is there lunar polar water? Why is the moon practically free of volatiles? Are there lunar ore bodies, ie has there been enrichment of surface materials in lava's and such? Several key regions of the lunar surface have never been visited and ground truth is unavailable. Several of these important areas were intended to be visited by the Apollo flights that were cancelled. What totally unexpected conditions exist on the moon? What geological oddities are hidden on that vast tract of land which we have never seen or theorized about? The moon still contains the answers to many questions that we don't know enough to ask. It will also contain evidence that will make us ask questions which change theories. It is the hieght of folly to constrain the study of nature to theory. One must go and look, because if you don't look, you won't see the things that don't fit. It is the things which don't fit our pretty little picture of mommy nature and wreck havoc with theories that have careers built on them that bring the truly startling advances. So what don't we know about the moon? "We don't know jack shit about the moon."
ems@Apple.COM (Mike Smith) (02/08/89)
In article <602189018.amon@H.GP.CS.CMU.EDU> Dale.Amon@H.GP.CS.CMU.EDU writes: >> (Quick, how many open questions about the moon can you think of? >> How many of those could be resolved by returning there?) > >Is there lunar polar water? [...] >So what don't we know about the moon? [...] and also ... what don't we know about man/moon interactions? How do bodies perform after a year in 1/6th G (as opposed to 0 G in LEO)? Rather than dealing with rotational platforms in orbit, put one on the moon and do lunar research on the side... -- E. Michael Smith ems@apple.COM 'If you can dream it, you can do it' Walt Disney This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything. (Including but not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)