Moon seen as laboratory for life

By Lee Pullen

updated 1:56 p.m. ET April 3, 2008

There are many fascinating places in our solar system to explore, but space missions are dangerous and expensive. Sending robots instead of people helps reduce these drawbacks. For this kind of exploration, Professor Bernard Foing looks to the moon, Mars and beyond, hoping to discover tantalizing secrets useful to astrobiologists.

Foing is the senior research coordinator at the ESA space science department, and executive director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group. Foing has developed instruments used on space probes, and is known as the father of the successful SMART-1 mission to the moon.

"SMART-1 has shown that Europe alone can build an effective mission to the moon," says Foing. "The next step is to use our expertise to develop lunar landers and rovers."

Foing says his team is now analyzing the data of SMART-1, which spent 18 months orbiting the moon and mapping the landscape with micro-cameras, infrared instruments and X-ray instruments. Information such as the chemical composition of certain regions can teach us about the moon's origin and past; high resolution images also can point to places where future landers and rovers could be sent.

Leslie Mullen Professor Bernard Foing is the senior research coordinator at the ESA space science department, and executive director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group.

Foing sees potential in using our moon as a unique laboratory to export life from Earth to other worlds.

"I am interested in the aspect of expanding life on other planets," he says. "For instance, looking at places where we could deploy bacteria experiments or life science experiments that could help to develop life support systems. In the future we would have human settlements that would grow on what we learn from life science experiments."

Foing says a second biosphere could be built on the moon where humans would be able to live. The initial stages of creating habitable areas on the lunar surface almost certainly will be conducted by life science experiments on robotic missions.

Foing describes the plan as a four-stage program. First, using orbital precursor missions like SMART-1, robots map the moon in detail and learn about lunar geology. The next part should come after 2010, when a variety of probes from different countries will be deployed on the surface, working in concert on various activities. After that, infrastructure and life-support systems will be constructed and visited for short periods by astronauts. The final stage will have outposts and a permanent human presence on the moon.

These plans may seem ambitious, but international collaboration is contributing more than ever before.

"We are offering some of our SMART-1 data to help other countries to prepare their missions," explains Foing. "With our ESA ground stations, we are helping the Chinese to double the amount of data they are going to downlink with their Chang'e 1 mission."

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