Friday 18 January 2013

MOON SURVIVAL CHALLENGE

The Moon is our closest space neighbor. It is the closest thing in outer space to the Earth. Not only does it look good when it is full and bright but helps werewolves make the transition so they could go out hunting. Less importantly, the Moon regulates our gravity, tidal waves, our weather and helps to guide us on the passage of time. Not bad for a dead piece of rock with nothing on it but dust.

It does look awesome though on a clear night when it is full. And the view back from the Moon to the Earth is spectacular as well. Imagine if we all could have a chance to go there. To experience the 1/6th gravity that Neil Armstrong felt. And perform missions while building a base for human exploration of the rest of the Universe.

But as tranquil as the Moon is, there lies a lot of danger. For one, here is atmosphere so there is no oxygen for you to breathe. And one side is too hot while the other is too cold. That's because the Moon only faces the Earth, so one side is always in the Sun and the other in the shadow. So if you were to be part of a team of astronauts building a Moon base on the Moon, how exciting would that be.

Imagine if one day while out on a mission away from your base ship on the sunlit side of the moon and while on the way back to your base ship, your small spacecraft crash-landed about 200 miles away. You need to reach the base ship, in addition to your spacesuit, you were able to salvage some items. But you have to prioritise which item to bring and which to leave, because you can't carry all of them. So which item would you rate as the most important and which is the least.

This is a fascinating quiz which is fun but is based on actual NASA studies. NASA has this list as well. You try to make your own list and compare that to NASAs'.

Using what you know about the moon, rate each item in the above list according to how important it would be in getting you back to the base ship. To take this quiz, click HERE.

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