1 Flights of the imagination

Many questions remain about the moons in the Solar System. Is there life on Europa? Is there a saltwater ocean below the surface of Ganymede? Can we build a base on the Moon? And what will the answers to these questions mean to us?

Figure _unit9.2.1 Figure 1 Artist’s impression of astronauts controlling a suite of robot surrogates while orbiting Mars. The surrogates include a roving vehicle, climbing robot and miniature sample-return rocket.

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This is an artist’s impression of astronauts controlling a suite of robot surrogates while orbiting Mars. The surrogates include a roving vehicle, climbing robot and miniature sample-return rocket.

Figure 1 Artist’s impression of astronauts controlling a suite of robot surrogates while orbiting Mars. The surrogates include a roving ...

Now you get to apply what you’ve learned so far about moons to questions concerning the future of space science and exploration. You consider the potential for building bases on the Moon and for landing on other moons. And you ask how the answers to our questions will forever change the way we see moons in the Solar System.

Where do you think we should explore next? If the south pole of the Moon seems like a good idea to you (and by now you should be in a position to judge), then you may like to become involved in the world’s first crowd-funded mission, Lunar Mission One [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .