In this file photo taken on April 10, 2019, stickers celebrating the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 mission were made available to the public during the 35th Space Symposium at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Going Back: Why returning to the moon is so important for the U.S. A photo provided by NASA of Jim Bridenstine, NASA's administrator, speaking at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., surrounded by pictures and models of the Space Launch System, March 11, 2019. She came to the Chronicle shortly thereafter to write about NASA, science and the environment. Photo: JASON CONNOLLY, Contributor / AFP/Getty Images, How yoga helped me build my inner strength during the pandemic. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate our return to the moon,” Bridenstine said. Going to the Moon is a short-term goal when one stops to consider the longer-term exploration of space. By Rebecca Gordon. "And clearly if you read the newspapers, you got that sense. 4 months later, he’s recovering from a double lung transplant. This photos shows a view inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 21, 2019. (ESA) By Paul D. Spudis airspacemag.com October 17, 2017. But why? Studying the geology of the moon will help scientists understand more about how other solar systems might have evolved — answering the question of whether Earth is unique or commonplace, said Ryan Ziegler, NASA's Apollo sample curator. Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer. But it’s also geo-politically advantageous to return as more and more countries make their way to the moon for the first time. I was engaged in two workshop-conferences last week in Columbia, Maryland. As they happened, the glacial phases may have helped speed up migrations of plant and animal species that caused life to spread. In response, experts say the U.S. is trying to accelerate its lunar program to keep up. 2nd Space Exploration Conference 12.01.06 - Top leaders from industry, academia, NASA and other agencies meet to focus on implementing the Vision for Space Exploration. COVID didn’t scare him. What has suddenly made Earth’s main satellite so popular? Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff photographer / Staff photographer. Why Is the Moon Important? India has plans to go to the moon, as does Japan. Faced with the immense challenges that plagued NASA during the 1950s and '60s, it is no small wonder that anyone ever made it to the Moon. Another chest of moon rocks is removed from a car after a caravan of vehicles drove from Houston's Johnson Space Center to Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio in early 1976. An Ohio native, Stuckey has lived in five states since graduating from Ohio University’s E.W. She shares a birthday with Ruth Bader Ginsburg (girl power!) Going to the Moon Was Hard — But the Benefits Were Huge, for All of Us It is this gravitational pull that causes the oceans to rise and fall. Is the Coronavirus Crisis Increasing America's Drug Overdoses? And that needs to change, says Bridenstine, now the space agency’s administrator. Tidal heat transfer may also have made climatic fluctuations less extreme, so research is still underway to determine what actually took place over lengthy periods of time. Going Back: Why returning to the moon is so important for the U.S. Alex Stuckey July 15, 2019 Updated: Sep. 5, 2019 9:59 a.m. Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Reddit Pinterest It explored how important the Moon has been to the development of life on Earth, and how important it may become in the future of space travel. The 12 men who walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972 all brought moon rocks home for scientific study. Here are 5 takeaways, Thanks to a loophole, Houston ambulance trips leave door open for high, unexpected bills. Israel attempted a landing in April, but the country's probe crashed into the surface. Scientists did not know there was ice on the moon until 2009, so it was not something that could have been explored during the Apollo missions. “NASA has a history of not meeting launch dates,” Bridenstine said, “and I’m trying to change that.”. Evgeny Kuklev/Vetta/Getty Images. The moon’s gravity has the effect of slowing down the Earth’s rotation. The boost in STEM areas not only helped the country remain a technological superpower for decades, it also created a huge economic boost, Lee said. Before we can understand the impact that the moon has on Earth, we should probably talk about the massive impact that gave rise to the moon in the first place. “The moon is a bit like Antarctica today; we conduct science there but we’re really there because other countries are there.”. Stuckey won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for her work on a project examining the rampant mishandling of sexual assault reports at Utah colleges while working for The Salt Lake Tribune. Seventeen years later in 2003, Bridenstine again sat in front of a TV — this time in the Persian Gulf where he was stationed with the Air Force — watching the Space Shuttle Columbia break up upon re-entry. Exposed: Officials said Texas could reopen early, citing low death rate. This European Space Agency artist’s conception shows a future lunar outpost built using 3-D printing techniques. ... "In the back of most people's mind, they recognized there was a space race going on," Launius said. At this point, the Earth was an uninhabitable, unstable lava wasteland. July 20th, 2009 was the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic flight to the moon, where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the moon. So, the U.S. did what made sense politically: reached the lunar surface first. And in 2016, a Chinese official said the country hopes to put a man on the moon by 2036, according to The Telegraph. NASA’s virtual reality journey uses same software, hardware as... Trump calls for a $2.7B space station to orbit the moon. She has won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Public Service Journalism and a Frank A. Blethen Award for Local Accountability Reporting. “Exploring other worlds motivates us in ways we can’t always anticipate beforehand,” said Kirsten Siebach, an assistant professor in Rice University’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science.