Lunar Mission One

How did the late heavy bombardment shape the history of our planet?

Around 500 million years after the formation of the Moon, scientists believe that the inner solar system (which includes the four planets closest to the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) experienced a period of heavy asteroid bombardment. Because our planet’s surface is constantly changing, effectively degrading geological evidence, it is difficult to study the extent or effect that this period of bombardment may have had on Earth. The Moon on the other hand does not generally experience such drastic geological change and it therefore holds invaluable information about these ancient asteroid impacts.

By drilling deep below the Moon’s surface, we will be able to study impact sites, and draw conclusions about how this violent period in our solar system’s history may have affected our own planet, including the development of conditions that initiated life on Earth.

Might the Moon be suitable for a permanently manned base for space exploration?

As far back as the 1960s, scientists have been considering the possibility of a permanently manned lunar base. A lunar base would have several future benefits, including cheaper space exploration:  the Moon’s gravity is weaker than Earth’s, so fuelling and launching rockets from or near the Moon would require less energy than launching from Earth, making the process more economically efficient.

The South Pole of the Moon has already been earmarked as a potential site for a lunar base because of its regular exposure to sunlight for solar power, stable temperature and the possible availability of water, hydrogen and other useful chemicals in nearby cold, permanently shadowed, craters.

Like other areas of the Moon, the South Pole is also subject to dangerous solar particles and cosmic rays, and these our mission can measure to predict the shielding astronauts would need. That shielding could itself come from the lunar surface material we analyse.

So, by drilling deep into the Moon’s surface and by measuring the surface environment, Lunar Mission One will be able to gather further valuable evidence as to the suitability of the South Pole for a future lunar base.