We are now living in an era called the Holocene, which is part of the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era. The Holocene is said to have begun approximately 11,700 years ago with the end of the last ice age, and a new period to follow it is the Anthropocene. Do you know?
The Anthropocene was proposed in 2000 by Paul Crutzen, a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, as an era in which the influence of humans on the global environment has become noticeable. In July 2023, Crawford Lake in Canada was selected as the reference site for the Anthropocene, where traces of human activities such as fossil fuel use and nuclear testing remain in the sediments on the lake bed. They are left all over the earth, such as in the seabed deposits of Beppu Bay.
[▲ Astronaut Buzz Aldrin installing a seismometer during the Apollo 11 mission (Credit: NASA)]
Although we are currently considering the Anthropocene as an “Earth” geological epoch, we must not forget the fact that human activity has already extended into space. A research team led by Justin Holcomb, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kansas and the Kansas State Geological Survey (KGS), has determined that the Anthropocene can be defined as “even on the moon,” when manned and unmanned human exploration activities began in the mid-20th century. claims to have arrived. The research team’s comments are published in Nature Geoscience.
Since Luna 2, an unmanned spacecraft from the former Soviet Union, was the first to reach the moon in September 1959, numerous probes and landers, both manned and unmanned, have landed on or collided with the moon. . For example, artifacts left behind on the moon by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Apollo program include the lunar lander’s descent stage, the lunar rover, various scientific instruments, and flags, as well as golf balls (from Apollo 14). (hit by Captain Alan Shepard). Images taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) also make it possible to pinpoint the exact location of the crater caused by the spacecraft’s impact.
[▲ The moon and Earth photographed by the camera of the Orion spacecraft during the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Artemis 1 mission, which took place from November to December 2022. (Credit: NASA) ]
Because the Moon doesn’t have an atmosphere like Earth, and surface changes such as erosion and deposition occur much more slowly than on Earth, these traces remain on the Moon’s surface for a long time. At a time when private space companies are increasingly accessing the lunar surface, the research team aims to facilitate the recording and study of impacts on the lunar surface, including the “lunar man” that may have started with the Luna 2 collision. The time has come to establish a new era.
Humanity’s influence is not limited to the traces of visiting the moon. It is known that the moon also has a thin atmosphere made of gas and dust, and recent observations suggest that ice (water ice) is stored in the moon’s permanent shadow at its polar regions. It is believed that there are. The spacecraft sent to the moon uses a rocket engine to land, but according to a study published in 2020, the engine’s combustion gases form a temporary thin atmosphere around the moon, and the gas contains Simulations have shown that much of the water vapor emitted may have traveled to the moon’s polar regions. Citing the results of this study, the research team points out that future lunar exploration missions will need to take into account the lunar environment, which is susceptible to combustion gases such as a thin atmosphere and permanent shadow ice.
[▲ Lander photographed on August 30, 2023 by a camera mounted on the rover of India’s lunar exploration mission “Chandrayaan-3” (Credit: ISRO)]
Throughout history, humans have left ruins all over the earth and have even influenced the earth’s environment. Holcomb, who states that the landscape of the moon in 50 years’ time may change completely under the new space development race, dispels the common belief that “the moon is unchanging,” and emphasizes the impact humans have on the lunar surface. The aim is to start a discussion about this before it is too late.
However, the research team does not view all human influence on the moon as negative. Holcomb says the astronaut’s footprints on the moon are an extremely important milestone that continues the journey of modern humans, which began in Africa. Now that domestic and foreign private companies are sending landers to the moon, and the first manned lunar exploration project in about half a century is underway, now is the time to seriously consider protecting and preserving the lunar environment and human heritage. Maybe it’s time to start.
[▲ Astronaut footprints carved on the moon surface during the Apollo 11 mission (Credit: NASA)]
Source
The University of Kansas – Scholars say it’s time to declare a new epoch on the moon, the ‘Lunar Anthropocene’Holcomb et al. – The case for a lunar anthropocene (Nature Geoscience)Prem et al. – The Evolution of a Spacecraft-Generated Lunar Exosphere (Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets)
Text/sorae editorial department
