books & arts Back to the Moon

exhi b ition It has been 50 years since in 1967 with the tragic death of three the first Moon landing astronauts during a launch test of and — despite the long Apollo 1, and continued with un-crewed time elapsed — the and then crewed flights in Earth orbit fascination inspired by that (until Apollo 7), the crewed mission incredible achievement has in Moon orbit that captured the iconic not faded. People are as ‘Earthrise’ picture (Apollo 8) and two interested as ever to hear missions that tested systems and mapped about Moon missions past the Moon’s surface (Apollo 9 and 10) in and future. The Moon, preparation for the Apollo 11 landing. the exhibition that runs The reconnaissance pictures, however, until 5 January 2020 at the did not fully capture the roughness of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, surface, and famously, when the moment is the perfect place to get an impression of to land came, Armstrong had to change what our satellite has meant for humans the touchdown location at the last minute. throughout history, and to ponder our Apollo 17 in 1972 was the last Apollo relationship with it today. mission, and the last time a human set The exhibition is an ideal size to be foot on the Moon. Credit: Iilbusca / Getty examined in an hour or two, and uses a But Moon missions are not a thing clever collection of disparate Moon-related of the past. In 1990, Japan launched the first objects from popular culture, science fiction mission since the Soviet Luna 24 in 1976. and history to weave a fascinating story. Roman times, and of course it features China performed the first soft Moon Animations that explain the Moon’s phases the Moon: in his A True Story (written in landing after the Apollo ones in 2013. and eclipses stand next to ancient and the second century ce), Luciano imagines Commercial Moon landings are being contemporary Moon-inspired artwork in an travellers who, taken to the Moon by a planned, and proposals to send people engaging blend of science and culture. whirlwind, get caught up in a war between to the Moon again have recently been Humans have always been mesmerized the king of the Moon and the king of the in the news. by the Moon, which has a special role in Sun over the dominion of the Morning Star. A scale model shows that planning for a every culture. The exhibit does an excellent Move a few centuries forward and scientific village at the Moon’s south pole, job of capturing this diversity by displaying we get to a beautifully illustrated version which might hold water ice and perhaps Moon-related artefacts from different times of the sixteenth-century tale of chivalry sustain life, is underway: the European and corners of the world. Orlando Furioso by Ariosto, in which the Space Agency is teaming up with architects So we meet Chinese Moon goddess Moon is the place where all that has been Foster + Partners to investigate how feasible Chang’e, who was banished to the Moon lost on Earth can be found, including this is. Buildings could be made of regolith, for drinking the elixir of life, and lives there Orlando’s wits, which a fellow knight lunar soil, hardened by 3D printing and with the rabbit Yutu. The Chinese see his had to recover. The exhibit then moves assembled by robots. silhouette on the surface of the Moon as on to the classic science fiction masterpieces With its peaceful atmosphere, slow- he grinds ingredients with a pestle and that shaped the imagination of generations moving projected images from the Moon mortar. In a poster from the early days of of children (and not only) with works orbiter and classical music playing in the the Cultural Revolution, we see Chang’e by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, who first background (when it’s not footage from and Yutu (who lend their names to Chinese dreamed up scientifically credible trips Apollo 11), The Moon immerses visitors lunar missions) welcoming young Chinese to the Moon. in a contemplative mood, making them space travellers to the Moon. A copy of Tintin’s lunar adventures, walk away in the realization that the A Moon mask used in ceremonial dances which predate the actual lunar landing by Moon means more to each of us than we by the First Nations people of Canada sits only 16 years, is also on display. After the previously thought. next to a representation of the Hindu Moon (real) landing, Hergé sent Neil Armstrong god Chandra. Not far is a small Madonna, a congratulatory cartoon, showing Tintin The Moon exhibition is being held at the who is often associated with the Moon greeting the astronauts as they come out of National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, because they both symbolize purity, side by the lander, looking understandably puzzled UK from July 2019 to January 2020. ❐ side with a statuette of the Egyptian Moon at finding someone out there. god Iah, who lost five days of moonlight in The exhibit contains items and Reviewed by Giulia Pacchioni a game of dice with Toth. Toth, adding the recordings from several lunar missions, and Senior Editor, Nature Reviews Materials. extra days to the lunar calendar, created the helpful timelines tracing the progress of the e-mail: [email protected] solar calendar. American and Soviet lunar programmes. It’s a fact lost on many that the first It follows in some detail the Apollo missions Published online: 2 December 2019 work of science fiction comes straight from leading up to the landing, which started https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0738-7

Nature Physics | VOL 15 | December 2019 | 1209 | www.nature.com/naturephysics 1209