Artemis astronauts will study the surface of the Moon – with their eyes

– The human eye is basically the best camera that has ever existed or will ever exist. The number of receptors in the human eye far exceeds what the camera can achieve – Kelsey Young, chief scientist of the Artemis 2 mission, told AFP.

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Although modern cameras are superior in some respects, “the human eye is extremely good at recognizing color, context, and photometric perception,” Young said.

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

Artemis 2 astronaut Victor Glover, piloting the Orion spacecraft, said before liftoff this week that they are a “magical instrument.”

Scientists in the field

In order to make the most of the proximity to the Moon, the čfour čmembers of the Artemis 2 crew underwent more than two years of training. Young pointed out that the goal was to turn the astronauts into “field scientists” through a combination of lectures, geological expeditions to Iceland and Canada, and multiple simulations of lunar flybys, exactly the kind they are performing in this mission.

Three American astronauts – commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch – along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, had to memorize the moon’s “Big 15”, i.e. fifteen relief shapes that would enable them to orient themselves. Using an inflatable moon globe, they practiced how the angle of the sun changes the colors and textures of the moon’s surface, honing observation skills and taking notes for the key moment.

– I can tell you, they are excited and ready – said Young with a smile.

Their moon will be ‘the size of a basketball’

The astronaut’s task is to study specific locations and phenomena within the ten objectives selected by NASA, which are ranked according to scientific priority. During the flight, which will last several hours, the crew will observe the celestial body with the naked eye, but also with the cameras they have in the spacecraft.

Noah Petro, head of NASA’s Planetary Geology Laboratory, told AFP that the moon would look “roughly like a basketball in an outstretched hand” to astronauts.

– The question that interests me the most is whether he will be able to see the colors on the meat’s surface. I don’t mean rainbow colors, butć to dark brown or dark brown tones, because that tells us about the composition and history of the Moon – said Petro.

David Kring of the Institute for Lunar and Planetary Studies told AFP that he does not expect epoch-making discoveries because of the many lunar probes and high-resolution images taken since the Apollo era.

Nevertheless, “listening to astronauts describe what they see… it is an event that at least two generations of people on Earth have never heard,” he pointed out.

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

– Just listening to their description exercises in mission simulations… I get goosebumps. I am absolutely convinced that these four people will give incredible descriptions – admitted Young.