How Artemis astronauts will study the lunar surface

Despite technological advances since the Apollo missions, NASA still relies on its astronauts' eyesight to learn more about the Moon.

"The human eye is fundamentally the best camera that has ever existed or will exist," Kelsey Young, chief scientist for the Artemis 2 mission, told AFP.

"The number of receptors in the human eye far exceeds what a camera can achieve."

Although modern cameras are superior in some aspects, "the human eye is extremely good at recognizing colors, context, as well as photometric observations," Yang said, according to Hina.

People can understand how lighting changes surface details – for example, how slanted light reveals texture but reduces the visibility of colors. In the blink of an eye, one can notice a subtle change in color and understand how light changes the contours of a landscape, scientifically useful details that are difficult to determine with certainty from photographs or video footage.

Artemis 2 astronaut Victor Glover, who is piloting the Orion spacecraft, said ahead of this week's launch that the eyes are "a magical instrument."

Scientists in the field

To make the most of their proximity to the Moon, the four Artemis 2 crew members underwent more than two years of training. Young said the goal was to turn the astronauts into “field scientists” through a combination of lectures, geological expeditions to Iceland and Canada, and multiple lunar flyby simulations, just like they are performing on this mission.

Three American astronauts – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Glover and Mission Specialist Kristina Koch – along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, had to memorize the moon’s “Big 15,” or fifteen landforms that would help them navigate. Using an inflatable lunar globe, they practiced how the angle of sunlight changed the colors and textures of the lunar surface, honing their observational and note-taking skills for the crucial moment.

"I can tell you, they're excited and ready," Jang said with a smile.

"Basketball size"

The astronauts' task is to study specific locations and phenomena within ten targets selected by NASA, which are ranked according to scientific priority. During the flyby, which will last several hours, the crew will observe the celestial body with the naked eye, but also with cameras on board the spacecraft.

Noah Petro, head of NASA's Planetary Geology Laboratory, told AFP that to astronauts, the Moon will look "about like a basketball in an outstretched hand."

"The question I'm most interested in is whether they'll be able to see colors on the lunar surface," Petro said. "I'm not talking about rainbow colors, but dark brown or yellowish-brown tones, because that tells us about the composition and history of the moon."

David Kring of the Lunar and Planetary Research Institute told AFP that he did not expect epochal discoveries due to the numerous lunar probes and high-resolution images taken since the Apollo era.

Still, "listening to astronauts describe what they see... is an event that at least two generations of people on Earth have never heard," he pointed out.

NASA will broadcast the Artemis 2 flyby live, except for the period when the spacecraft is behind the Moon.

"Just listening to their mission simulation exercises... gives me goosebumps," Young admitted. "I'm absolutely confident that these four people will give incredible descriptions."