NASA is calling for the examination of two peculiar domes on the surface of the Moon.
Humans have not visited the surface of Earth’s Moon since the 1970s but there are plans to return during Nasa’s Artemis missions.
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The Gruithuisen Domes are two puzzling mounds thought to be made of magma with a high concentration of silica in it.
Typically, mounds like the two found on the Moon require water and shifting tectonic plates to form – the Moon offers neither of these necessary features.
Nasa will design studies and send scientific instruments to the Moon to explore the Gruithuisen Domes and seek answers.
“The two selected studies will address important scientific questions related to the Moon,” Joel Kearns, a Nasa administrator, said.
A lunar rover will have ten Earth days to scale one of the Gruithuisen Domes and study the surface of its peak.
A Nasa representative said “In order to truly understand these puzzling features, we need to visit the domes, explore them from the ground, and analyse rock samples. Luckily, Nasa is planning to do just that!”
While the first study attached to the Gruithuisen Domes is focused on geological mysteries, another will explore the Moon’s effects on organisms.
“The second will study the effects of the moon’s low gravity and radiation environment on yeast, a model organism used to understand DNA damage response and repair,” Kearns said.
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The Artemis missions are expected to be an awe-inspiring and reinvigorating chapter for Nasa.
Studies of the Gruithuisen Domes will influence our understanding of the Moon and how it can serve people on Earth or astronauts in space.
Part of the Artemis outline includes developing a permanent colony on the Moon to serve as a pitstop for future spaceflights on their way to Mars.
Delta, the taller of the two Gruithuisen Domes, rises about 1,800meters – about the height of Mount Washington here on Earth.
Nasa hopes to get these lunar studies underway by 2026.
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