The Artemis II crew is on their way back after witnessing an extraordinary sight of the moon. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, along with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, achieved a historic milestone by venturing farther from Earth than any previous humans during the Artemis II mission.
While satellites have captured images of the moon’s far side since Luna 3’s first photos in 1959, Artemis II became the first instance of humans directly observing certain far-side regions. Kelsey Young, NASA’s Artemis II lunar science lead, expressed excitement about allowing humans to see and describe lunar features firsthand, emphasizing the unique capabilities of the human eye in making nuanced color observations.
During the mission, which included five hours of observations using cameras and the naked eye, all four astronauts provided detailed descriptions of what they saw. Of particular interest was the Orientale basin, a significant region on the moon believed to have formed 3.8 billion years ago. Hansen highlighted color variations extending toward Hertzsprung, a large crater on the moon’s far side.
Although it may seem odd to think of the moon as having color, it does exhibit various hues due to minerals on its surface. Unlike cameras that require saturation adjustments to capture these colors, the human eye is more sensitive and can discern subtle differences without such enhancements. Ralph Chou, a professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo’s school of optometry, explained the superior discriminating ability of the human visual system compared to electronic systems.
Moreover, human observers have the advantage of viewing features in real-time and in three dimensions. During the lunar flyby, one intriguing observation was meteoroids impacting the moon’s surface. While most meteors on Earth burn up in the atmosphere, the moon’s lack of atmosphere allows meteoroids to reach the surface, creating the cratered landscape.
Glover reported witnessing impact flashes during the flyby, a phenomenon rarely captured before. Peter Brown, an expert in Meteor Astronomy, highlighted the advantage of human observations in detecting transient events that cameras might miss due to their fast shutter speeds. He mentioned the European Space Agency’s upcoming mission, the Lunar Meteoroid Impacts Observer (LUMIO), aimed at capturing meteoroid impact flashes on the moon’s far side.
In conclusion, combining visual observations with camera data provides a comprehensive understanding of the moon’s surface features. NASA’s chief exploration scientist, Jacob Bleacher, commended the crew for their descriptions of the breathtaking views during the flyby, emphasizing the scientific value of the observations made during the mission.