We Finally Visited the Other Side of the Moon

Bright Side

In 2023, India made history by successfully landing on the other side of the moon with its Chandrayaan-3 mission. This achievement marked a huge milestone for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and showcased India's growing capabilities in space exploration. The mission aimed to study the moon's geology and search for water ice, which could be crucial for future lunar missions. Scientists and the public alike were thrilled with the wealth of data and stunning images sent back. This accomplishment has ignited even more excitement and ambition for India's future space endeavors!   Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/:  Clementine lunar orbiter: Tim Evanson - https://flic.kr/p/c3jWJS, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clementine_lunar_orbiter_-_Smithsonian_Air_and_Space_Museum_-_2012-05-15.jpg  D-Shape moon rock: Rama, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D-Shape_moon_rock_brick_at_Cit%C3%A9_de_l%27Espace-IMG_1908.jpg  NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center  NASA/GSFC  NASA/Johnson Space Center  NASA Charles Conrad Jr NASA’s Artemis I Moon Mission  Animation is created by Bright Side.  #brightside   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00August 23, 2023. A day when India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft made history by becoming the first

00:09to touch down on the lunar South Pole, a place we can't normally see from Earth.

00:15What makes this lunar hideaway so fascinating to scientists? Well, it turns out it's hiding

00:21something precious. Lunar ice. This place is believed to be more abundant with this

00:27ice than what we found up north. And it's not hard to see why scientists are so buzzed

00:32up about it. It's a frozen water source, and it could become our key to building a

00:37permanent lunar home, or even fueling missions all the way to Mars.

00:44Scientists knew about this ice for over two decades, since the NASA spacecraft accidentally

00:48stumbled upon it during one of the missions. Then, in 2018, NASA triumphantly declared

00:54that they're 100% sure about it. They said that the South Pole of the Moon is abundant

00:59with water. Now, picture this. Future lunar settlers could tap into this water supply.

01:07It could help us sustain life in the barren lunar landscape. Plus, by cleverly splitting

01:13the water into oxygen and hydrogen, we could receive both air and rocket fuel. All this

01:19will make Moon missions more feasible and self-sustaining.

01:24It's also a great glimpse into the past. This ice, maybe as old as the Moon itself,

01:30could unlock the Moon's and Earth's deep mysteries.

01:35But it turns out that water isn't rare in space at all. There might be lots of planets

01:39out there where life could thrive. We know this because we started finding water vapor

01:44around stars. And this water is remarkably similar to the water in our own Solar System.

01:52This discovery suggests that the water on Earth originally came from space. Water forms

01:58around stars in the cloud of extremely hot vapor. Then, it turns into ice and sticks

02:03to tiny dust particles. These particles stick together over time and become bigger objects

02:09like comets, planets, and other things.

02:12Some of these become comets and planets in our own Solar System. And this is how water

02:17is being spread across the Universe. And it may be how it got to our planet and the Moon

02:22too. Scientists think that the lunar ice might have journeyed here eons ago. Maybe it hitched

02:28a ride on water-rich asteroids that smacked into the Moon's surface.

02:34All this has big implications for us. The Southern Pole is an ideal canvas for humanity

02:40to establish a real Moon base. Imagine brick domes connected by secret underground tunnels.

02:46They'll be bustling with people busily operating computers. Some others will be cruising the

02:53lunar landscape in their Jeeps or on their way to mine precious resources. We have some

02:59pretty cool ideas on how to build this. First, you probably imagine hauling hefty and water-draining

03:04shelters all the way from Earth. But maybe there's a more effective way. Think about

03:10our history as a civilization. Every time we ventured to a new place, we surveyed the

03:15surroundings for available resources and used them to survive and thrive. This is how we

03:21spread across our own planet. So why shouldn't we spread across the Moon the same way?

03:26Now you might wonder what resources the Moon might offer. We know about the ice, and it

03:32can be turned into water. But we can clearly see that our planet lacks lush greenery and

03:37edible food. Well, it might not be obvious, but the Moon does have something to offer

03:44– mineral resources and sunlight. Unlike Earth, where the Sun rises and sets, the lunar

03:51poles offer quite a beautiful sight. The Sun gracefully orbits the horizon the entire day.

03:58Which means it can provide an almost uninterrupted source of power.

04:04Imagine living in a world bathed in perpetual sunlight. I'm sure the solar panels will

04:08love it. Me? Not so much. Still, we could use not only the Sun's light, but also its

04:15heat. Honestly, we should just use everything. If we're left with spare metal while producing

04:20oxygen, find a purpose for that metal too. We need to treat the environment responsibly

04:26Not only on Earth, but on the Moon as well. Which is why scientists are learning how to

04:31turn the Moon's most abundant resources, regolith, into sturdy bricks.

04:36They've been quite inventive in figuring out how to create Moon bricks. Scientists

04:41want to use the Sun's heat to melt lunar dust, layer by layer, essentially creating

04:46a 3D printer for Moon dust. Engineers have also cooked up bricks using solar ovens and

04:54zap lunar soil with microwaves. They've become quite adept at it.

04:59So yeah, perhaps we're going to establish a little brick factory on the Moon and build

05:05regolith houses. It's like Minecraft in real life. As soon as you find some cool new

05:11material, you gotta build a tiny house with it.

05:15If successful, these bricks could be used to construct entire buildings, potentially

05:20covering inflatable modules or giving new life to abandoned landers.

05:25So will astronauts need to become skilled bricklayers? Well, they won't do everything

05:30themselves. We'd have to create a small automated system involving robots working

05:35collaboratively. Humans will, of course, oversee the construction site.

05:41Despite all this automation, scientists believe that living on the Moon is going to be, well,

05:46call it cozy. The designs may involve stacked living quarters or multipurpose areas.

05:53However, there would be some challenges too. On the Moon, things get extreme. Imagine scorching

06:00temperatures that can go up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and at night, they

06:06plunge down to a chilly minus 290 degrees. And it's not just the weather. The Moon

06:12gets relentlessly exposed to solar radiation, cosmic rays, and micrometeorite impacts. All

06:19these things gradually wear down anything on its surface.

06:24Another big challenge is the lunar dust. On the Moon, there's no air to breathe, and

06:28the dust there can cause problems. And this one isn't only regular dust. It's super

06:34clingy and can even make astronauts sneeze and have watery eyes, as if they're having

06:39a lunar hay fever. It can also damage equipment and spacesuits. It's not something you want

06:46to mess with. Scientists have found that the dust is made

06:51when meteors hit the Moon, creating tiny particles and sharp glass shards. It's toxic, and

06:57its tiny particles can float around in low lunar gravity, making it hard to breathe.

07:03Unlike on Earth, the Moon doesn't have wind or rain to clean it away. So now they're

07:09studying it to find out how to prevent this annoying problem from ruining their entire

07:13mission. There's more to this lunar haven than meets

07:17the eye. Scientists also want to delve into the mysteries of low-frequency electromagnetic

07:23waves there. These waves are whispers from the far reaches of the Universe. These elusive

07:29signals have remained hidden from us for ages. We only caught some cacophony of radio and

07:35other background noise, but that's it. On the Moon's dark side, however, we can

07:41finally record and study them. Studying these waves will help scientists to unlock the secrets

07:47of the Universe's origins. It's not just about the Earth or the Moon. We're talking

07:52about peering back to the very beginnings of our world. Our new lunar lab might help

07:58us to forever reshape our understanding of the cosmos.

08:03So, NASA has some big plans on the Moon now. Their Artemis mission completed a successful

08:10return to Earth in December 2022 after nearly a month in space. It ventured far beyond the

08:17Moon. This mission proved the capabilities of some of our recent technological developments

08:23that will help us explore Mars. The goal of Artemis is to establish a lasting

08:28presence on the Moon. They want to create a gateway, like a space station in orbit around

08:34the satellite, to help with the landings. Artemis 2 is set to carry astronauts to lunar

08:39orbit in 2024, and during Artemis 3, which should take place in the mid-2020s, two astronauts

08:47will touch down near the Moon's south pole. It's quite possible that the lunar base

08:52will be built within the next couple of decades. So, stay tuned!

08:57That's it for today! So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like

09:04and share it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and

09:08stay on the Bright Side!

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