“First Orbit” – The Patth of Yuri Gagarin April 12, 1961 – See “First Orbit” page 9 Feature Articles This Issue Welcome to Moon Miners’ Manifesto Chandrayaan-1 Data Reveals Intact Lava Tube India Quarterly Issue #10 Section ISRO p. 3 Our purpose in launching this unique publication two and a half years ago (already!) was to provide the ISRO invited by NASA to Partner in Moonrise enormous ground-swell of space enthusiasts in India with a Sample Return Mission 2016 p. 6 vehicle that might help them organize “Moon Society On-Orbit Vehicle Assembly at ISS India.” The reception this Quarterly has received throughout Charles Powell ASTE 527 p. 22 the country has been most gratifying, NASA’s New Moon Mission Budget But we are not there yet! Moon Society India, D. Dunlop p. 26 spearheaded by Jayashree Sridhar (Chennai) and Pradeep Mohandas (Mumbai) needs to recruit a few more persons to Two Analog Research “Sim” levels its Executive Committee and to begin growing the general P. Kokh p. 29 membership. Please read our Call to Volunteer on page 12. Footsteps on the Moon & Other Leavings And by all means, spread the word by sending us P. Kokh p. 32 email addresses of persons who might enjoy this free Speculation: Could some Lunar Lava Tubes be publication, whether they live within India or abroad. Hiding Valuable Resources? Once MSI is firmly established on its own, it will P. Kokh p. 34 take over this publication, giving it a new name and a new Complete article & feature index on the last page look. That is how it should be! We look forward to that development. To the Moon! 1 About The Moon Society About MMM-India Quarterly http://www,moonsociety.org http://india.moonsociety.org/india/mmm-india/ Our Vision says Who We Are This publication was launched with the Fall 2008 We envision a future in which the free enterprise issue. This issue completes our 2nd year. The Moon human economy has expanded to include settlements Society was founded as an International organization, on the Moon and elsewhere, contributing products and but in fact has few members outside the United States, services that will foster a better life for all humanity on and these are for the most part solitary and unorganized. Earth and beyond, inspiring our youth, and fostering hope in an open-ended positive future for humankind. Background The Moon Society and The Planetary Society of Moon Society Mission Youth (TPSY) in India, http://www.youthplanetary.org/ Our Mission is to inspire and involve people in December 2003, put together a "Design a Mission to everywhere, and from all walks of life, in the effort to the Moon" category in TPSY's student design contest -- create an expanded Earth-Moon economy that will "A Mission to the Moon and Beyond." contribute solutions to the major problems that The contest was designed to help students learn continue to challenge our home world. about various objects in the solar system as they Moon Society Strategy compete in the design of a mission. We seek to address these goals through education, www.youthplanetary.org/moon_mission_contest.html outreach to young people and to people in general, Why an MMM-India Quarterly? contests & competitions, workshops, ground level research and technology experiments, private India is a very populous country, and one in entrepreneurial ventures, moonbase simulation which, through the heritage of the British Raj, English is exercises, tourist centers, and other legitimate means. the almost universal medium of higher education. It is likely that English-fluent Indians outnumber English About Moon Miners’ Manifesto speakers in the United States. More books are published http://www.MoonMinersManifesto.com in English than in any other country. MMM is published 10 times a year (except January and And – India has now gone to the Moon! July. The December 2009 issue began its 24th year of In short, we want to share with space-interested continuous publication. and space-enthused people in India, our vision of the Most issues deal with the opening of the Lunar possibilities for Exploration and Utilization of the frontier, suggesting how pioneers can make best use Moon, development of lunar resources, not just to of local resources and learn to make themselves at support a permanent population on the Moon, but to home. This will involve psychological, social, and help better address chronic clean energy supply physiological adjustment. problems on Earth and to help slow and reverse our Some of the points made will relate specifically to home planet’s environ-mental degradation in the pioneer life in the lunar environment. But much of process. In short, we would like to share our glimpse of what will hold for the Moon, will also hold true for an emerging greater Earth-Moon Economy. Mars and for space in general. We have one Mars This vision was well-expressed by the former theme issue each year, and occasionally other space President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in a speech destinations are discussed: the asteroids, Europa at The Symposium on “The Future of Space Explora- (Jupiter), Titan (Saturn), even the cloud tops of Venus. tion: Solutions to Earthly Problems” to mark the Issues #145 (May 2001) forward through current are as occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the dawn of Space pdf file downloads with a Moon Society username and Age, Boston University, Boston, MA, April 12, 2007. password. Moon Society International memberships are $35 US; $20 students, seniors – join online at: In this speech, Dr. Kalam made the point that to http://www.moonsociety.org/register/ fully industrialize and become an equal partner in the future of our planet, India needs to access the unlimited MMM Classics: All the “non-time-sensitive editorials clean undiluted solar energy available in space. We and articles from past issues of MMM have been re- agree with his assertions and want to share that bold edited and republished in pdf files, one per publication vision with the forward-looking people of India. year. A 3-year plus lag is kept between the MMM Classic volumes and the current issue. These issues are Free Access: freely accessible, no username or password needed, at: MMM-India Quarterly issues are available as a www.moonsocietyorg/publications/mmm_classics/ free access pdf file, downloadable from this address: Editors of MMM-India Quarterly: http://www.moonsociety.org/india/mmm-india Peter Kokh [email protected] We encourage readers to share these files with others freely, and to use this publication to grow and cultivate Madhu Thangavelu [email protected] wide-spread interest in the open-ended possibilities of David A. Dunlop [email protected] space among the people of India, and to encourage the Pradeep Mohandas [email protected] rise of additional citizen support space organizations Srivinas Laxman [email protected] within the country. 2 "Identifying sites for permanent base stations for possible human settlement on the Moon is important for Indian long-term perspective of lunar exploration." Japan's Kaguya probe had previously discovered Space the first of several lavatube "skylights" now known, the find announced in 2009. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has News discovered several more. Chandrayaan-1’s finding reinforces the prevailing assumption that the basaltic lava flow areas of the Moon Chandrayaan-1 Report (the maria, pronounced MAH-ria, Latin for seas) that occupy 39% of the Moon's nearside, and a lesser portion of Discovery of intact lavatube section the Farside. These are substantial and voluminous spaces February 25, 2011 - Today, ISRO, Indian Space Research well-shielded from the cosmic elements of radiation and Organization, released a paper detailing the discovery of a micrometeorites, and as such provide ideal locations for 1.72 kilometer long (5,733 ft.) intact lava tube section in the area-intensive developments such as warehousing, industrial south western reaches of Oceanus Procellarum, Ocean of parks, agriculture, archiving, and settlements. Storms. A discovery long predicted: More than 20 years http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/25feb2011/524.pdf ago, Cassandra Coombs and B. Ray Hawke had published a The data was compiled by Chandrayaan-1's Terrain list of such "interruptions" in various lunar rilles, suggesting Mapping Camera (TMC), one of the eleven science instru- that they represented "uncollapsed" sections of an original ments on board India's first lunar orbiter, launched October long lava tube. It was the Apollo 15 mission, which, back in 22, 2008. the summer of 1971, set down along the rim of Hadley http://www.isro.gov.in/chandrayaan/htmls/tmc.htm Rille, that convinced lunar geologists that these features "The TMC image is in the panchromatic spectral were the remains of collapsed lava tubes of gigantic range of 0.5–0.75 m with a stereo view in the fore, nadir and proportions. aft directions of the spacecraft movement and with a high Perhaps the most familiar of these suspected spatial resolution of 5 m at an orbital height of 100 km (ref. "interrupted" rille sections are those along Hyginus Rille in 1), to enable three-dimensional viewing of the lunar surface central nearside. What has been needed is a very high- with crisp and clear surface features and morphology. resolution view taken from just the right angle facing "The Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generated one/both "end(s)" of such an "interruption" or "bridge" and from the three look angles enables morphometric study of that is what Chandrayaan-1's high-resolution Terrain various lunar features, thus furnishing topographic relief Mapping Camera has provided. We look forward to the and dimensions of various morphological entities. release of similar findings elsewhere on the Moon.