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When human back on the moon in the future, do you think some scientists need to go to the moon too? |
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We're going to need scientists as well as many other disciplines on the moon. I think when we go back, we will be going back to stay. I think we will start to settle the moon, and the more people there are there, the more different things you're going to need.
You're going to need scientists to do the exploration. You're going to need mining engineers to lay out the mines. You're going to need process engineers to refine the material that is mined on the moon and extracted from its soils. And you're going to need physicians to take care of people and technicians to take care of the equipment, just like here on Earth. The more complex a society gets, the more different types of disciplines will be needed in order to make things work. |
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Tell us about your current research. |
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Well, my own scientific research is still related to the synthesis of the information that we collected about the moon, before, during and after Apollo. I try to stay very active in that field and look not only at the possible origin of the moon but also how it has changed over time. I am also very active in looking at how the private sector might be mobilized to provide the investment necessary to go back to the moon, in particular for its energy resources. And I'm also working with NASA as co-chair of one of the groups that are trying to understand how you actually land human beings on Mars.
It's not an easy problem, and we're trying to make sure that we know what has to be done to make that happen sometime in the future. |
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What kind of space activity would you be interested for the near future? |
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Well, the main thing we need is a return to the moon. And we need to try to mobilize the private sector to be part of that, if not to carry most of the burden.
The moon is extremely important in our overall future in space. It offers a station where human beings can live independently of the Earth; where they can create settlements; and provide the resources, technology and infrastructure that will assist in the exploration of deep space and of the planets, and ultimately in the creation of the fusion power systems that will take us into the galaxy. The moon is a very key component of our future in space. |
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What are your feelings after your visit here, to the Tsukuba Space Center? |
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Dr. Schmitt at Tsukuba Space Center |
It's exciting to see that the space center at Tsukuba is working on so many different things that relate to our future in space. The JEM; Japanese Experiment Module "KIBO" is going to be a very important addition to the space station, where we must begin to do the human research, not only on human adaptation to space but human performance after they have been in space for some time. And I think the JEM-related centrifuge will be a very important part of that research sometime in the future. Particularly if you're interested in going to Mars, JEM - and the centrifuge associated with JEM - can give us a much, much better understanding of human adaptation to space.
Also, the SELENE spacecraft [which will be studying the moon] will add to our store of knowledge about the composition and structure of the moon, which is very important to those of us who are not only studying the science, origin and evolution of the moon, but also looking at the best way to use its resources.
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What are your expectations for the SELENE mission? |
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| Selenological & Engineering Explorer (SELENE) |
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I'm expecting the SELENE mission to provide even more information about the distribution of lunar resources, about the distribution of various chemical components that make up the surface of the moon, and also about its structure beneath that surface, so that we can continue to try to piece together the history of the moon.
The reason the history of the moon is so important to us here on Earth is that it's a history partially shared with the Earth. But on Earth, geological processes, some of which Japan is unfortunately very familiar with - earthquakes and volcanoes - have over geologic time destroyed the information that we might have gained about the Earth's early history. The moon has preserved that history, particularly what we call the impact history of the inner solar system. That has been preserved on the moon and acts as an anchor to our interpretation of the history of the Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury - of all the inner solar-system planets. And that is very exciting to geologists, because it is in that history that we find the origins of life here on Earth. And the better we understand the environment that the Earth was exposed to when life was beginning here, the better we're going to understand life itself.
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