NASA has proposed shooting at the moon to further our understanding of what it’s made of
The out-of-this-world plan would involve an astronaut or rover using a special gun to shoot sensors into the soil. This would allow detailed analysis of its chemistry over a wide area, NASA scientists suggested at the 37th International Geological Congress 2024.
These sensor bullets would be miniaturized spectrometers, which would use a special type of diffraction called Fresnel diffraction.
Wow. I’m gonna pull out my NRA card and apply to be an astronaut after dinner.
travis_bear on
“Out of this world” was vaguely cool in the early 70s, but it’s time to let that phrase die when describing space news.
110397 on
RAHH 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
Finally something we are good at doing
Neberix on
Stop resisting moon! They must have found some oil up there or something…
Jump_Like_A_Willys on
Georges Méliès already did that 122 years ago.
fatbellyww on
I think we should shoot reflective paint at it and make a permanent smilie face!
grizzrk on
Look at how beautiful the moon is, one of the last of her kind….she’s coming right for us! 🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫
[deleted] on
[removed]
EsquiloRatatoskr on
In fact, there is little smoke coming out, when I was in high school when they passed by, everything would be white if nothing arrived, today it’s this little smoke that you only see a little bit of.
redpat2061 on
Wait I’ve seen this movie. The moon takes it in the eye!
doublelxp on
They did something similar about 15 years ago when they fired a rocket into a crater and flew a small spacecraft through it to determine water composition.
“Pass the word a long tell the men it’s time to shoot the moon”
phasepistol on
USA! USA! USA! You know blowing up a NUCLEAR BOMB on the moon was an idea at one point.
Kamicasse_ on
Why not send a Boston dynamics robot and control it remotely ? Humans never will be in danger , easy packaging, less weight, better aerodinamics. If robot get damaged, send spares with other robot to fix it to have then 2 robots with less graviry they should work better than here..
MLSurfcasting on
Just put a basic landing pad and have rockets land on both sides.
Well, at least they’re not trying to nuke it this time.
(See Project A119 if you want to know more.)
FlowBot3D on
OK NASA, here’s the plan:
Shoot payload to the moon that has its own gun. Have that gun shoot a strong thin tether back towards earth (no atmosphere to deal with). Have the end of that tether caught by a satellite orbiting higher than other satellites, but still close enough to earth. Use the thin cable as a guide to run a stronger permanent cable. Now we can Zipline stuff from earth orbit to the moon and back.
funwithtentacles on
I’m failing to see how this would provide any added benefit to a rover with a drill and spectrometer, other than it’s a US thing and there being a gun involved..
Ballistic munitions shot at a velocity high enough to penetrate the lunar surface and still have a functioning spectrometer and telemetry?
Doesn’t even pass a cursory laugh test, never mind the money involved to even attempt something like that…
If you’re going to write SciFy at least make it somewhat believable!
ragnarok62 on
Gotta find cheap ways to take out that Chinese nuclear reactor.
Lietenantdan on
Looking to give the rest of humanity 26 points.
LeoLaDawg on
That spin launcher would work great for this. If it works.
Apolo 14 and 16 shot shotgun like rocket propelled mortars onto the moon. Apollo 17 employed them directly on the moon
I Don’t understand the new ‘spectroscopy’ shots. Light doesn’t travel very far in regolith. Maybe they are trying to explain sound wave sensor method ?
31 Comments
By Jess Thomson | Science Reporter
NASA has proposed shooting at the moon to further our understanding of what it’s made of
The out-of-this-world plan would involve an astronaut or rover using a special gun to shoot sensors into the soil. This would allow detailed analysis of its chemistry over a wide area, NASA scientists suggested at the 37th International Geological Congress 2024.
These sensor bullets would be miniaturized spectrometers, which would use a special type of diffraction called Fresnel diffraction.
Read more: [https://www.newsweek.com/moon-soil-space-gun-bullets-spectroscopy-astronauts-1956471](https://www.newsweek.com/moon-soil-space-gun-bullets-spectroscopy-astronauts-1956471)
Wow. I’m gonna pull out my NRA card and apply to be an astronaut after dinner.
“Out of this world” was vaguely cool in the early 70s, but it’s time to let that phrase die when describing space news.
RAHH 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
Finally something we are good at doing
Stop resisting moon! They must have found some oil up there or something…
Georges Méliès already did that 122 years ago.
I think we should shoot reflective paint at it and make a permanent smilie face!
Look at how beautiful the moon is, one of the last of her kind….she’s coming right for us! 🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫
[removed]
In fact, there is little smoke coming out, when I was in high school when they passed by, everything would be white if nothing arrived, today it’s this little smoke that you only see a little bit of.
Wait I’ve seen this movie. The moon takes it in the eye!
They did something similar about 15 years ago when they fired a rocket into a crater and flew a small spacecraft through it to determine water composition.
good luck with shooting the moon
https://youtu.be/HMf_Q4t23k8?si=ChmmHz89agR4xfK-
“Pass the word a long tell the men it’s time to shoot the moon”
USA! USA! USA! You know blowing up a NUCLEAR BOMB on the moon was an idea at one point.
Why not send a Boston dynamics robot and control it remotely ? Humans never will be in danger , easy packaging, less weight, better aerodinamics. If robot get damaged, send spares with other robot to fix it to have then 2 robots with less graviry they should work better than here..
Just put a basic landing pad and have rockets land on both sides.
I thought we already knew what it was made of.
[right back to our humble beginings](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/luna_2.png)
At least that’s on brand, yeah.
I bet shooting a gun in space would be super fun.
Well, at least they’re not trying to nuke it this time.
(See Project A119 if you want to know more.)
OK NASA, here’s the plan:
Shoot payload to the moon that has its own gun. Have that gun shoot a strong thin tether back towards earth (no atmosphere to deal with). Have the end of that tether caught by a satellite orbiting higher than other satellites, but still close enough to earth. Use the thin cable as a guide to run a stronger permanent cable. Now we can Zipline stuff from earth orbit to the moon and back.
I’m failing to see how this would provide any added benefit to a rover with a drill and spectrometer, other than it’s a US thing and there being a gun involved..
Ballistic munitions shot at a velocity high enough to penetrate the lunar surface and still have a functioning spectrometer and telemetry?
Doesn’t even pass a cursory laugh test, never mind the money involved to even attempt something like that…
If you’re going to write SciFy at least make it somewhat believable!
Gotta find cheap ways to take out that Chinese nuclear reactor.
Looking to give the rest of humanity 26 points.
That spin launcher would work great for this. If it works.
… Was this proposal written by a Dr. Jules Verne?
[been done already.](https://youtu.be/DeLjzlFgiEE?si=26dXMde_GPhQ1cdC)
America can, should, will, and must blow up the moon
Gotta keep those tax dollars flowing by any means
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Seismic_Experiment
Apolo 14 and 16 shot shotgun like rocket propelled mortars onto the moon. Apollo 17 employed them directly on the moon
I Don’t understand the new ‘spectroscopy’ shots. Light doesn’t travel very far in regolith. Maybe they are trying to explain sound wave sensor method ?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Seismic_Profiling_Experiment