Liftoff: College of Charleston Moon Expert Discusses Artemis II
As Artemis II takes four astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit and farther than any humans have before, CofC's resident moon expert Cassandra Runyon answers questions about the historic launch.
Above: Cassandra Runyon, geology professor at the College of Charleston (photo by Mike Ledford)
For the first time since the last Apollo mission in 1972, astronauts are going beyond low-Earth orbit – and traveling farther than any humans have before. While the four astronauts aboard Artemis II won’t land on the moon, they will see the far side of the moon illuminated as they orbit it, something no one has seen before.
The crew of three Americans and one Canadian will also be conducting experiments during the 10-day mission to see how deep space affects human physiology, capture scientifically significant photos and video and set in motion the future colonization of our galactic dance partner.
Unlike with Apollo, the plan this time is to stay when subsequent missions touch down. One idea is for colonists to live in lava tubes to protect them from harmful solar radiation and other environmental extremes. NASA also plans to build a launchpad on the moon for future missions to Mars.
As NASA likes to say, “Science enables exploration, and exploration enables science.”
The College Today caught up with the College of Charleston’s resident moon expert, Professor of Geology Cassandra Runyon, to discuss Artemis (Apollo’s sister in Greek mythology) and humanity’s return to other worlds.
Runyon helped analyze data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper aboard India’s first mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, which provided the first mineralogical map of the lunar surface. Its 2009 discovery of water in the polar regions was crucial to inhabiting the moon and launching missions to Mars.
She was also at the uncrewed Artemis I test flight launch at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Here’s what she had to say.
What it what is it about the moon that you find interesting?
I get to look at it from my backyard. I’ve always wanted to go. I don’t know what it is. I’ve just been drawn to the moon. It relates back to my grad school days in Hawaii. I went to the University of Hawaii for my Ph.D., looking at active and previous flows on the Big Island and then using the school’s 88-inch telescope to look at the moon and compare the volcanic features up close and remotely. I felt like I was up there touching it. My favorite area is Aristarchus, a 160-square-kilometer area with a giant crater, explosive volcanic deposits and a lava tube that goes for almost 100 kilometers.
Where did the moon come from?
The current theory is that a Mars-sized object hit early prototype Earth. They mixed together, and some of the mass spun off and became the moon. The other cool thing is the rocks returned here from Apollo are 4.6 billion years old, older than any rock we can find on Earth because there are no plate tectonics or volcanic eruptions or weathering to destroy them.
What are you looking forward to about the Artemis II mission?
First, that we are going back! It’s been 54 years, right? Let’s get the astronauts there and bring them back successfully. Second, all the cool science the astronauts are going to do. We’re not just putting humans back in orbit around the moon after 54 years; they’re going to be doing a polar orbit for the most part at about 6,000 miles above the surface. If you held out a basketball at arms’ length, that’s what the moon will look like to them. They’ll be that close. They’re going to be able to see more detail of impact craters, lava channels and rilles – the ones that are eroded.
Why would we want to launch missions to Mars from the moon?
It takes a lot of energy to leave Earth’s gravity, a lot less from the moon, which has one-sixth the gravity. That’s a big reason why Artemis III will land in the south polar region, where we may use the water there to create fuel for Mars. Plus, launching missions from the moon will give the astronauts time to get adjusted to microgravity because it takes six months to get to Mars.
There’s a lot of math involved, isn’t there?
There is. As my second-grade teacher said, “Math is your friend.”
Do the Artemis astronauts have better food to eat than the Apollo astronauts?
They do. Each astronaut can pick their own menu, pretty much. But our taste is weird in orbit. Due to the microgravity, fluids fill your head and can directly affect one’s taste – much like when you have a cold – so, NASA enhances the flavors and the spiciness. Texture is also critically important.
