Happy Moon Landing Anniversary!
Forty years ago today, humans first set foot on another world when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon (with Michael Collins circling above). Six more Apollo missions followed, five of which landed on the Moon (while Apollo 13 returned safely to Earth after an accident that prevented them from landing), but the last was in December 1972. Since that time, humans have ventured no further than low-Earth orbit — a distance barely one thousandth that of the distance to the Moon. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read a short commentary I’ve written on the meaning of the Apollo landing and how and why I think we should now go back to the Moon.
Best wishes,
Jeff
Contents
1. We Came In Peace for All Mankind
2. Hubble Space Telescope Refurbished
3. Kepler Mission Begins Looking for Earth-Size Planets
4. News from Mars
5. Max Science Adventure Series Honored
1. We Came in Peace for All Mankind
Imagine that you could send a single short message through time to anyone who has ever lived, telling them one modern fact that would give them hope for the future of humanity. I don’t think you could find anything more powerful than this: Human beings have walked on the Moon, and upon first arrival left a plaque that read “We came in peace for all mankind.”
No other single event in human history would be both so understandable — after all, everyone can see the Moon — and so amazing at the same time. For most of history, a trip to the Moon would have been considered impossible. Even once it became possible in principle, few believed that it could really be done. But not only did we do it, we did it in a way that made it belong to all of humanity, not just to the astronauts who made the trip, to the people who built the program, or to the nation that paid for it. Surely, if we are capable of that, it would seem that we are capable of anything.
Or rather that we were capable. For this year marks the 40th anniversary of the landing of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969. Those of us old enough to remember that day will recall how it riveted attention around the world, even from our enemies at the time. As Neil Armstrong took “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” we all shared a brief moment when humanity seemed poised on the brink of a transcendent future. …
Click here to read the rest of my commentary on the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.
For Classroom Discussion:
*President Kennedy proposed the goal of going to the Moon in a speech to Congress, on May 25, 1961 (you can find the relevant portion here), and gave a more extended description of why he thought we should go in a famous speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962. Read the speech. How do you think the reasons Kennedy gave for going to the Moon have held up to time? Are they still valid?
*Some people argue that the Moon is a “been there, done that” issue and that our resources are better spent on other things. Other people (including me) think that we made a big mistake in ending the Moon program, and that it is high time we return to the Moon. After reading my commentary, what do you think? Defend your opinion.
*President Obama has appointed a commission chaired by Norm Augustine to evaluate the human space flight program, due to report back to him shortly. Look for news on possible recommendations from the Augustine panel. What would you recommend?
2. Hubble Space Telescope Refurbished
In May, the Hubble Space Telescope was successfully refurbished in spectacular fashion by astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This was likely the last visit to the Hubble Space Telescope, but the mission was so successful that the observatory should continue to operate and collect great data for five or more years to come. The refurbishment included installing a powerful new camera for images, and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, built by my colleagues at the University of Colorado’s Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy. (Side note: With the addition of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, all of the working instruments on Hubble were built by Ball Aerospace here in my home town of Boulder, Colorado.)
For Classroom Discussion:
*The Hubble Space Telescope is most famous for its spectacular images, but its ability to obtain spectra of distant objects is equally important scientifically. Read more about the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. What kind of science can be done with it that cannot be done in other ways?
*Visit the Hubble Space Telescope Web Site and look for some of the latest images and science results. What’s your favorite, and why?
*Visit the Ball Aerospace Web site and learn more about the company’s role in space instrumentation. What kinds of career opportunities are available in space science? What kinds of courses should you be taking to prepare yourself for these types of careers?
Kepler Mission Begins Looking for Earth-Size Planets
The Kepler mission, which offers our best chance of making the first discoveries of planets as small Earth around other stars, was launched successfully in March and has begun its search. Don’t expect results too soon: It works by looking for transits of planets in front of their stars, in which the star becomes slightly dimmer during the passage, which means we can detect a planet only once each orbit. Since we need at least three transits to be sure we’ve seen a planet rather than just some random change in the star’s brightness, it would take at least 3 years to confirm the detection of a planet in an Earth-like orbit. Nevertheless, by the end of 2012 we will probably know the answer to the question of whether planets the size of Earth are common in the universe. You can read much more about the science of the Kepler mission in my book, Beyond UFOs.
For Classroom Discussion:
*We occasionally witness transits of Mercury or Venus in front of our own Sun. Find out when the next transit will occur, and how to observe it. Why don’t we ever see transits of Mars or the outer planets?
*Visit the Kepler mission web site, and learn more about how the mission works. What is the spacecraft doing right now?
4. News from Mars
Most of the news from Mars in recent months has concerned the stuck wheel of the Spirit rover; you can find a great summary in this article by Robert Lee Hotz from the Wall Street Journal. Scientifically, however, a more exciting result has been confirmation of the detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere. The methane is probably volcanic in origin, but there’s also a possibility that it could be due to biological activity on Mars. The BBC had a great summary article.
For Classroom Discussion:
*The media has not always handled the distinction between volcanic and biological origin of methane very well, which has led to some misleading claims about whether we have found evidence of life on Mars. Phil Plait has written a terrific summary of the issues on his Bad Astronomy blog; read his posting, and comment on how the media deals with complex scientific issues like this one.
*Speaking of the Apollo anniversary (above), how important do you think it is to send humans to Mars? Defend your opinion.
5. Max Science Adventure Series Honored
It’s been a good year so far for my children’s series of Science Adventures with Max the Dog:
*Max Goes to Jupiter has picked up the Gold for 2009 Children’s Picture Book (all ages) from the Young Voices Foundation, along with a PTPA Media Award, a Preferred Choice Award from Creative Child Magazine (official announcement to come in the Holiday issue this fall), a Silver medal in the Nautilus Book Awards, and was a Finalist for the Colorado Book Awards.
*Max Goes to Mars won the 2009 Gold for Children’s Picture Book in the Legacy Category (books published before 2009) from the Young Voices Foundation, and also picked up a 2009 Preferred Choice Award from Creative Child Magazine.
*Max Goes to the Moon won the 2009 Silver for Children’s Picture Book in the Legacy Category from the Young Voices Foundation, and also picked up a 2009 Preferred Choice Award from Creative Child Magazine.
*Max’s Ice Age Adventure was chosen as the Educational Book of the Year by Creative Child Magazine.
As always, I encourage you to post reviews of these books on Amazon and other sites, and please recommend the books to teachers and friends. I’m currently scheduling school visits for the coming academic year, so get in touch with me if you are interested in having me come to your school.