“We are currently experiencing an exciting time in lunar research”
German, European and international lunar experts will be converging on the University of Münster from June 22 to 27 for the European Lunar Symposium (ELS). In this interview with André Bednarz, Prof. Harald Hiesinger from the Institute of Planetology talks about the conference, a special guest and lunar research, which is as highly topical as ever.
The European Lunar Symposium (ELS) is, after 2017, once again being held in Münster. What will it be about, and who will be coming?
The 200 or so participants will be focusing in particular on European contributions to lunar research and exploration. Most of them will be coming from Germany and other European countries, but we’ll also be welcoming colleagues from North America, Africa and Asia. In addition, what marks out this ELS is the fact that experts from industry and representatives from the space agencies will also be taking part in what is, in my view, the most important lunar conference in the world.
Why is that so?
We have a unique mix of people attending. As a rule, at a scientific conference you only meet other scientists. The ELS is more, though. From the scientific point of view, we cover everything: from impact craters and vulcanism to the inner structure or geochemistry of the moon. But we’ll also have engineers there with whom we can discuss the requirements that each side has. What for example does an engineer need to know to land a spaceship safely on the moon’s surface? What technical knowledge does the scientist need to undertake the best possible research on the moon? Both groups can complement each other wonderfully. This year, for the first time, we’ve also invited representatives of the Life Science community, who are involved in many of the experiments being carried out on the ISS, and with their help we can look in more detail at the way humans can explore the moon: How can we enable astronauts to spend more time on the moon’s surface? How dangerous is the radiation dose there? What hazards do micrometeorites or moondust present? We planetologists, for our part, are already able not only to localise and characterise landing areas for a variety of space agencies but also to work out where, and how, water or methane are present so that these resources can be utilised for a space station. No one would dream of taking all the water with them to the moon, which means that local resources have to be used.
Which items on the agenda are you looking forward to especially?
I’m a geologist, so I find everything to do with geology fascinating. But, as I already mentioned, I’m also looking forward to having discussions with life scientists, and I hope that the space agencies take this idea on board in future, so that we can go deeper into this huge area. Another highlight of the conference will be the public talk to be given by the ISS astronaut Matthias Maurer. He is now the head of the LUNA Facility in Cologne, where the European Space Agency and the German Aerospace Centre have created an artificial lunar surface. Special lighting and rope hoists for the training of astronauts make it possible to simulate light and gravity conditions one-sixth of what they are on Earth.
So Matthias Maurer’s talk isn’t just for the experts?
Correct. We hope he’ll reach the general public and, not least, fire the enthusiasm of children and teenagers – who are often trapped in the assumption that science subjects are terribly difficult, which is why they steer well clear of them. Matthias Maurer is a great speaker. I’m convinced that he’ll be showing his audience – and especially the younger listeners – that careers in technology and science can be very interesting.
What can someone like you, a scientist, learn from an astronaut like Matthias Maurer – and vice-versa?
For years now, our Institute of Planetology has been collaborating with astronauts. Because most astronauts are pilots, we use the PANGEA training programme to teach them the basics of geology, for example, and how to talk about specific things: What kind of rock is that? Where is it found? To what depth is it covered in dust? Every discipline has its own language. What is important is that astronauts can radio their observations in space back down to Earth in a way we can understand. There’s a lot we could do using robots, but astronauts – with their cognitive skills and responsiveness – are the most capable machines that we can possibly conceive of. In order to make the best possible use of the time the astronauts are able to spend on the moon, here on Earth we practice meticulously what they do there. But it’s all not just a one-way street. Astronauts are smart people who have undergone years of training. Those of us working in the scientific field can learn a lot from their skills and insights.
But there is also worrying news, right?
Right! The NASA space agency – and scientific research in the US as a whole – are both threatened with massive cuts to their budgets. These cuts would also affect international space travel and research, as ESA for example provides technology for missions and, in return, European astronauts are given places in the spaceships. If missions are cancelled, the cross-financing of ESA places on launches will disappear.
A tongue-in-cheek question: There’ll be a new moon during the conference. Is that a good omen?
Back to science: Measured in astronomical dimensions, the moon is right on our doorstep. Lunar research has been carried out for a long time now, unlike for example research into Pluto, which was only discovered in 1930. What’s the current state of lunar research at the moment?
The moon is a special celestial object because everyone on Earth can observe it with the naked eye, more or less constantly, and can study for example its large geological structures. That’s hugely different from a planet that can only be seen as a small dot of light. However, there is a widespread misconception: a lot of people think that we know everything about the moon – after all, there have already been twelve astronauts on its surface. But that’s wrong …
… because?
Today we have recourse to countless quantities of remote sensing data, for example from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter whose camera generates images with a resolution of half a metre per pixel. However, we are still working on hypotheses which were developed in the 1960s and 1970s, i.e. during the Apollo era. Many of these assumptions still need to be verified, which we can now do with modern data. And we still have a lot of fundamental questions: How exactly was the moon created? What are the processes behind the magma ocean? How strongly was the moon bombarded with projectiles, i.e. asteroids? Answers to the last of these questions can help us to understand the Earth better – because what happened on the moon also happened on the Earth at an early stage. The traces on our planet with dynamic geological processes are merely no longer visible.
So you’ll never run out of lunar research topics?
Right. And now, especially, is an extremely exciting time. Next year, Artemis II will be taking humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo programme; there are Chinese missions to the moon; and even countries which didn’t previously play a role are now getting involved, for example the United Arab Emirates. We are currently contributing to the European Space Agency’s Explore2040 Strategy dedicated to the long-term European vision of exploring the solar system. We are currently experiencing an exciting time in lunar research, so the conference couldn’t have come at a better time.