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Does Life Exist on the Moon - Earth's Sole Natural Satellite?
ASPIRING TO CHANGE 'CENTURY-LONG PREJUDICES'
The Moon was once deemed uninhabitable and lifeless, yet NASA's upcoming mission could change that centuries-old perception.
After years of research into extraterrestrial life, Prabal Saxena, a planetary scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, shocked the world by suggesting that microbial life could survive in harsh environments like the Moon - our planet's only natural satellite.
This statement partly reflects NASA's ambition in its larger and more meticulous journey to reclaim the Moon. This ambition is fully encapsulated within the Artemis Program, which the agency is implementing step by step.
Space.com reports on NASA's upcoming mission to the Moon, Artemis 3, scheduled to launch in late 2025, which may reveal whether microorganisms from Earth transported on previous space flights (such as Apollo 11 in 1969) could survive in the permanently shadowed, ultra-cold lunar polar craters.
Speaking at the workshop on potential landing sites for Artemis 3, NASA scientist Prabal Saxena stated: 'Artemis 3 promises to solve the Moon's greatest mystery, whether life exists here or not. One of our team's most notable findings is that, based on recent studies on the range at which some microorganisms could survive, there may be potential polar crater sites (unexposed to solar radiation) for microbial existence and growth. Currently, we are researching which specific organisms might be suited to thrive in such areas'.
To date, NASA has identified 13 prospective sites near the lunar South Pole for the Artemis 3 mission - the first crewed lunar landing of the 21st century since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Including:
Faustini Rim A
Proximity to Shackleton crater
Connecting Ridge
Extension of Connecting Ridge
de Gerlache Edge 1
de Gerlache Edge 2
de Gerlache-Kocher Junction
Haworth Malapert Massif
Leibnitz Massif
Beta Plateau
Nobile Edge 1
Nobile Edge 2
Amundsen Rim
They chose these 13 landing sites because they are areas containing permanently shadowed regions, inaccessible to solar radiation, and potentially harboring water ice. Additionally, they are resource-rich and have terrain yet to be explored by humans.
Experts speculate that if microorganisms exist on the Moon, they may have arrived via extraterrestrial meteorites. However, there's also a possibility that Earth-origin microorganisms, resilient and adaptable to harsh conditions, hitchhiked on the Apollo 11 lunar module in 1969.
Heather Graham, an organic geochemist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, told Space.com: 'We regard Earthlings as the most likely emissaries (of microorganisms) to bring life to the Moon. This is certainly based on the rich data we have on the history of exploration and the human impact record on the Moon in the 20th century'.
Even if microorganisms are not currently present on the Moon, those with radiation-resistant capabilities like Tardigrades (scientific name: Macrobiotus sapiens) or Deinococcus radiodurans bacteria may thrive through lunar exploration activities under the Artemis program.
NASA scientists believe that these microorganisms not only have the potential to survive after the journey but also to thrive on the Moon.
Artemis 3 is the cornerstone mission in NASA's 21st-century Artemis program aimed at returning humans to the Moon. Unlike the Moon landings of the 1960s and 1970s, this landing, NASA aims for a more thorough exploration of Earth's natural satellite, on a larger scale, turning the Moon into a research hub for scientists and a 'launching pad' for missions to Mars.
'Together, the test flights to the Moon in the Artemis 2 mission will demonstrate the capabilities we need to bring humans to the Moon and carry out long-term missions in the decades to come. We will leverage the experience gained from lunar exploration to prepare for the next giant leap to Mars' - NASA asserts.
Sources for this article: NASA, Chron, Space.com
