Film Night September – The Planets – 25 Years Later : Moon

The Planets – 25 Years Later : Moon

The Earth’s moon has been the companion in the sky, marking the seasons, the year, the tides, and even the biology of all life on earth. But what is it ? From rock, to a dust ball – to green cheese – speculation has abounded until 1957 when the first spacecraft of human construction, Sputnik 1, opened the Solar System to human exploration. The moon was one of our earliest targets, as the nearest – and most arrestingly mysterious yet beautiful – celestial body. Men flew around the moon in 1968 with Apollo 8 at Christmas time that troubled year, and landed on the moon in July 1969 with the success of Apollo 11 – and humanity at last touched, and walked on the moon. Since that time, and since 1999, there’s been a lot of exploration of the moon – and there is more to come. And that’s before we consider the other moons of the Solar System, still more amazing…

Refinements in lunar exploration, with low orbits, pioneered with Clementine (after which a lunar orbit is named)
Irrefutable proof we went there – photos of the landers from the exploration ships of multiple countries
Still going strong since 1969 – the ALSEP laser reflectors. Dusty, but working…
Captures of lunar impacts by amateurs in recent years – there are new craters being made all the time…
The discovery of water ice at both poles of the moon.
The rediscovery of the concept of the ‘Lunar Arecibo’ on the Dark Side
Triumphs of the Kerbal Space Program in terms of recent lunar mishaps of landers ….
Forthcoming explorations of the moon by robot probe and manned missions in the years to come