NASA is aiming for the Moon again. It is an ambition that the American space agency has never hidden. Moreover, the program Artemis whose main objective is to return astronauts there by 2025 is proof of this. We can even say that things are now starting to become clearer since NASA recently announced the selection of two very interesting projects within the framework of its program.
These are missions Lunar-VISE (Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer) et LEIA (Lunar Explorer Instrument for space biology Applications). Two missions that will be part of the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services), an equipment transport program intended to prepare the ground for the next Artemis missions.
The data provided by these two missions will eventually make it possible to learn a little more about the Moon and the conditions that the astronauts will have to face once there.
These two missions will provide us with essential insights
According to information shared via the NASA blog, Lunar-VISE will aim to study the mounts gruit houses. For information, these are geological formations that have long been a mystery among specialists. The study in question will last 10 Earth days, which is equivalent to one lunar day. This will be a first and to do this, five devices will tackle the task.
As for Lunar-VISE, this project will probably offer us the opportunity to finally elucidate the mystery of the formation of the Gruithuisen domes. Indeed, on the Moon, there are neither oceans nor tectonic plates. Conditions which are, on Earth, essential for the creation of such reliefs. So, analyzing the lunar regolith and these domes themselves, researchers hope to find an answer to the question of their origin.
Read also : NASA plans to send the first-ever African-American astronaut to the Moon as part of the Artemis program
The LEIA mission, for its part, will consist in studying the impacts of low gravity and radioactive radiation on a yeastle Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is a microorganism present in the human body in a commensal form and therefore very interesting from a biological point of view.
Knowing more about the effects of lunar environmental conditions on this yeast is crucial for the survival of astronauts on future long-term human missions to the Moon, especially with respect to DNA and cell biology.