Gerade einmal ein halbes Jahrhundert, nachdem Neil Armstrong zum ersten Mal die Mondoberfläche betreten hat, entbrennt in diesen Tagen ein neuer Wettlauf zum Mond. Der Astrophysiker Joseph Silk entwirft in Zurück zum Mond eine Vision für die nächsten fünfzig Jahre und zeigt, dass der Mond Möglichkeiten bietet, die unsere kühnsten Vorstellungen übertreffen. Die NASA will eine bewohnbare Raumstation in der Umlaufbahn errichten, um die Entwicklung und Erforschung des Mondes zu koordinieren, während europäische und chinesische Raumfahrtbehörden Monddörfer und den Abbau wertvoller Ressourcen planen, die auf der Erde knapp werden. Mächtige internationale und kommerzielle Interessen treiben den Wettlauf um die Wiederbesiedlung des Mondes an, aber die Mondinfrastruktur könnte auch atemberaubende Ausblicke auf den Kosmos eröffnen. Mit Mondteleskopen von noch nie dagewesener Größe, die in ständig dunklen Polkratern und auf der anderen Seite des Mondes aufgestellt werden, könnten wir endlich in der Lage sein, einige der tiefgreifendsten Fragen der Menschheit zu beantworten, darunter die Frage, ob wir allein im Universum sind und was unser kosmischer Ursprung ist.
Zurück zum Mond befasst sich sowohl mit den gewaltigen Herausforderungen als auch mit den immensen Chancen, die die Erforschung und Nutzung des Mondes mit sich bringt, und zeigt auf, wie Mondastronomie, uns in die Lage versetzen wird, die tiefsten kosmischen Rätsel zu lösen.
For the purpose of building the very best space telescopes, and discovering alien life and the origins of the universe, and indeed the unified theory of everything for physics. Also we can pay for it with rare earths and helium-3, and a lunar orbital platform that is the future hub for humanity. It will be safe and efficient, because we will choose the best people to go, and nations will set smart rules, and corps have learned from earth's polution and other health dangers. (so the author says)
When I am 80 years old, I hope I have enough energy to publish a book, connecting the highlights of a lifetime of research, in a hopeful way. I certainly hope I can be this optimistic about the future of exploration, science and humanity.
Artimis was apparently a wise choice for allocating resources, and we have a rush by space nations to go secure the best sites, and establish their own legal frameworks. Silk hopes above all that space telescopes and shared, stable power stations become part of the plans. That science is a large part of the (stated) purpose. Oh my, I do hope so too. If i squit hard, it isn't completely impossible.
The author repeats himself, and the book has a dictated quality to its sentence structure. Much of this is not at all about the moon, but rather about the cutting edge long wavelengths radio astronomy that could potentially be done on the dark side moon, as long as terrestrial governments carve out space and money for pure science.
The book includes some fascinating research details, such as that the 2037 ESA gravitational wave probe LISA will be precise enough to measure mass relative displacement of one-billionth of a centimeter over a distance of a million kilometers. (p150) Jaw dropping stunning.
Interesting endnotes, such as how we know the distance of the moon over time, as related to tides modifying its angular momentum.
On p269 in the notes, a typo transposes two numbers in the date of the Mt Saint Helens eruption, just about the only number in the book with which I had prior knowledge. I very much hope the other numbers are all fully reliable, since I doubt the book had extensive editing or proofreading.
I do think exploration of the moon will rapidly turn to exploitation, and I worry that science will be left in the dust, but this is exactly the kind of book that helps perhaps avoid that inevitability.
Book Review: Starry-Eyed Dreams of a Lunar Homecoming ~ “Back to the Moon” is astrophysicist Joseph Silk’s impassioned call to return humans to the lunar surface for good—Mark Wolverton @undarkmag https://bit.ly/3Cl3kir
Astrophysicist Joseph Silk wanted to write a book about... astrophysics. Or cosmology at least. And he did! But he called it "Back to the Moon".
The parts that are actually about the Moon are really handwavy, a long list of all the sports (golf!) and luxury hotels and mining companies that can't wait to go back to the moon. It's all very superficial, with not even an attempt to some back-of-the-envelop analysis of how the economics of this could work. Oh, and the search for extra-terrestials.
But then he gets to his moon-based telescopes, discussed in more detail. Then get us to a discussion of the astrophysics since the Big Bang, the Great Questions etc., Which was interesting, but not at all much related to the "Back to the Moon".
Title is misleading. Based on the cover I expected the book bro discuss the future of space travel in the next decades. The book begins with a history of space exploration, it spends much time on the beginning of the universe , it spends time on the universe a billion years from now. It does spend some time talking about exploring the moon over the next decades. It does present the perils both technological and legal that will be faced. On both f theses fronts I would have like to see a call to action. Especially w,r.t. The legal, I would have like to see, “write to congress and ask them to do x,y,z soon
The book’s theme is interesting but it was poorly executed. The book is at times very repetitive and do not go deeper in some interesting topics. Besides that, the book is a bit all over the place. If you are interested in this topic you might be better off searching “why we are going back to the moon” on YouTube and watching the first video that pops up.