The Artemis II crew is on their way back after witnessing a unique perspective of the moon. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch achieved a milestone by venturing farther from Earth than any previous human mission during Artemis II. While satellites have captured images of the moon’s far side since 1959, Artemis II provided the first opportunity for humans to directly observe certain far-side regions with their own eyes.
Kelsey Young, NASA’s Artemis II lunar science lead, expressed excitement about the prospect of humans visually inspecting and describing lunar features firsthand. The crew utilized cameras and their unaided eyes for approximately five hours of observations, providing detailed accounts of their observations.
A focal point of interest was the Orientale basin, a region spanning the near and far sides of the moon and believed to have originated 3.8 billion years ago. Hansen highlighted color disparities extending towards Hertzsprung, a sizable crater on the moon’s far side, noting distinct brown and green hues in the landscape.
While it may seem unconventional to attribute colors to the moon, it indeed exhibits a range of hues due to various minerals on its surface. Unlike cameras that require saturation adjustments to highlight colors, the human eye is naturally adept at discerning subtle differences in color and brightness.
Ralph Chou, a professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo, emphasized the visual system’s superior sensitivity compared to electronic systems in detecting color discrepancies. Additionally, humans benefit from real-time, three-dimensional observations, enhancing the understanding of lunar features.
During the lunar flyby, the crew also noticed meteoroids striking the moon’s surface, a phenomenon rarely observed on Earth due to atmospheric incineration. The absence of a substantial atmosphere on the moon allows meteoroids to reach its surface, contributing to the extensive cratering visible. The crew reported witnessing impact flashes, underscoring the value of human observations in capturing transient events that may elude cameras.
Visual observations complement camera data, offering a comprehensive understanding of lunar phenomena. NASA’s chief exploration scientist, Jacob Bleacher, commended the crew’s descriptive accounts and emphasized the scientific insights gained from the mission’s imagery and research.
The European Space Agency’s upcoming Lunar Meteoroid Impacts Observer (LUMIO) mission aims to capture meteoroid impact flashes on the moon’s far side. This collaborative approach between visual and camera observations promises to deepen our knowledge of Earth’s celestial companion.
