NASA will make an "exciting announcement about the Moon" this Monday, October 26. Although no details have been revealed, the agency says that this discovery will have an impact on the Artemis program.
What will NASA tell us this Monday? At the moment, it is impossible to say. All we know is that this "exciting new discovery is the work of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). It is an airborne infrared telescope developed by NASA and the German space agency in the 2000s.
Concretely, imagine a carrier aircraft (Boeing 747 SP) modified to integrate a telescope between the wings and the empennage. The observation flights are carried out at an altitude between 12,000 and 13,000 meters (above the water vapor in the atmosphere) in order to allow maximum "clarity" in the infrared images.
Thanks to this approach, SOFIA instruments have already led to many discoveries, such as the first detection of oxygen in the Martian atmosphere, the first detection of a bond molecular in space. The telescope also gave us this amazing infrared view of the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way (below).
This time the Observatory turned much closer to home. This "new discovery contributes to NASA's efforts to learn more about the Moon in support of deep space exploration “, said the agency.
Press conference attendees include Naseem Rangwala of NASA's Ames Research Center, project scientist for the SOFIA mission, and Jacob Bleacher, chief scientist of the exploration for NASA Human Exploration and Exploitation Mission Direction.
We will know more on Monday, but NASA makes it clear that this announcement will affect the Artemis program which plans to return humans to the Moon in 2024 . We also remind you that this is no longer a "one shot", but rather to be part of our satellite for the long term.
In this spirit, Jim Bridenstine, the administrator of NASA, announced last May the establishment of the Artemis Accords. The goal here is to secure a "safe, prosperous and peaceful future. " in the space. So far, only eight countries have signed these agreements . On the one hand, there is Japan, which wishes to continue its commitment to lunar exploration. There is also Luxembourg, which has specific legislation allowing space mining. The United Arab Emirates and Australia, both of which are actively trying to establish collaborative links with the wider space industry, have also seized their chance. The last three territories to join are Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada.
