> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://jatan.space/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Our Moon is valuable even beyond itself | Moon Monday #239 - URL: https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-239/ - Published: 2025-08-25T11:25:29.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-20T10:55:55.000Z - Description: And how science does not exist in a (lunar) vacuum. - Author: Jatan Mehta - Tags: Moon Monday, Explore, Articles ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2025/08/farside-moon-and-earth-change-5-t1.jpg) Our Earth and Moon as captured from beyond the lunar farside by China’s Chang’e 5 T1 test spacecraft in 2014\. [Image: CAST](https://www.planetary.org/space-images/earth-and-the-moon-from-change5t1) Very few people know that our serene, silvery cosmic companion’s value lies even beyond the [exploration of itself](https://jatan.space/why-explore-the-moon/). That’s why I’ve been sharing and writing about various such aspects too and their relevance on my blog and beyond. However, I realized I never brought it all together in one place. Today I’m fixing that. Take a look at these fantastic propositions our Moon offers. Who knows it might be useful during some policy debrief when people want to choose between the Moon and Mars based on logical fallacies tied to mutual exclusions? Our Moon is valuable even beyond itself: - As a [unique platform for radio cosmology](http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/May21/radio-astronomy-from-Moon.html) to study the Cosmological Dark Ages from the Moon’s farside - To [repurpose Moon missions for enabling deep space exploration](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-193/) - For leveraging Luna’s unique vantage point to [monitor our Sun and its wind](https://jatan.space/indian-space-issue-22/#a-sun-watcher-at-the-moon) - As a [geological time capsule](https://jatan.space/why-explore-the-moon/) and an [age reference](https://www.planetary.org/articles/0401-the-lunar-chronology) for Earth and events across the Solar System - By [studying moonquakes and the lunar interior](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-199/) to understand the origin and evolution of solid surface planets & moons across our Solar System and beyond - As a well known, nearby reference body to [calibrate imagers](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-232/#more-moon) and [radar systems](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-235/#a-moon-catalyzed-jupiter-update) for Earth observation as well as planetary exploration - For performing [some of the most stringent tests of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity](https://doi.org/10.12942/lrr-2010-7) using deployed retroreflectors - As a [good proxy of unprotected solar and radiation](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-162/#a-gist-of-gateway-science) in deep space environments to enable future human exploration of our Solar System - Its [regolith being a layered record](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0562) of our dynamic Sun over the last 2+ billion years, and the interstellar mediums and environments our Solar System passed through in that time - Enabling an [exclusive set of gravitational wave studies](https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.11631) of highly energetic cosmic body collisions not possible to conduct from Earth or elsewhere in our Solar System - As a unique astronomy platform to [study magnetospheres associated with exoplanets](https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2019.0564) that are galactically-nearby and potentially habitable - Perhaps, as a [future launch base](https://jatan.space/the-moon-as-a-rocket-platform/) to other places in our Solar System Related recommendations: [Book: Our Moon 🌗 by Rebecca Boyle](https://rebeccaboyle.com/our-moon-how-earths-celestial-companion-transformed-the-planet-guided-evolution-and-made-us-who-we-are/) [Whitepaper 📃: Why sustain Moon exploration](https://baas.aas.org/pub/2021n4i401/release/1) There might be a few more aspects that I’m missing and [would love to know](https://jatan.space/connect) about it from you! **Edit:** Many thanks to planetary scientists [Ian Crawford](https://www.bbk.ac.uk/our-staff/profile/8004655/ian-crawford) and [Clive Neal](https://www3.nd.edu/~cneal/) for two suggestions which I’ve incorporated. 🌙 Taken together, the above aspects in themselves constitute a clear rationale not just for exploring our Moon but also standing up for [its preservation](https://www.unoosa.org/documents/pdf/copuos/stsc/2024/ListTechnicalPresentations/2024%5FSTSC%5Ftechnical%5Fpresentations%5Fslides/R%5FGreen%5FLunar%5Ffor%5FSTSC%5F24.pdf) against pure commercialization and national or private claims of ownership—especially so when it’s the same kinds of exploratory technologies that both enable many of these observations and can eventually destroy them. ## Science does not exist in a (lunar) vacuum ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2025/08/magma-ocean-and-solidifying-crust-on-the-early-moon.jpg) An artist's concept of the Moon shortly after its formation, with a mag­ma ocean and a newly forming rocky crust. [Image: NASA Goddard](https://www.dlr.de/content/en/articles/news/2020/03/20200710%5Fa-slightly-younger-moon.html) NASA’s Apollo missions helped us confirm that our celestial companion [had a fiery origin](https://jatan.space/apollo-moon-origin/) tied to Earth. Soviet Luna missions were the [world’s first robotic sample return missions](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/revisiting-soviet-lunar-sample-return-missions), establishing the modern approach that fetching planetary material to Earth generates scientific results for decades. India’s Chandrayaan 1 orbiter [discovered water on the Moon](https://jatan.space/how-nasa-and-chandrayaan-discovered-water-on-the-moon/), revealing a dynamic lunar environment and catalyzing [global interest in lunar exploration](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-231/). Japan’s SELENE orbiter extensively mapped the Moon and found [openings to long underground lava tubes](https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL040635). Samples fetched by China’s Chang’e 5 mission confirmed that the Moon was [volcanically active and thermally complex](https://doi.org/10.11728/cjss2024.04.2024-yg10) geologically recently. And Chang’e 6 [transformed our understanding of how our Moon evolved](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-233/) thanks to the first ever farside lunar samples. These are profound discoveries that tie back to the history of Earth and potentially its water. The scientific exploration of our Moon has been a microcosm of what humans globally are cumulatively capable of. And it promises more still as a unique platform for [radio cosmology](http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/May21/radio-astronomy-from-Moon.html), [solar sciences](https://jatan.space/indian-space-issue-22/#a-sun-watcher-at-the-moon), unraveling the [complex history of our Solar System](https://jatan.space/solar-system-history-101/), and more. But with increasing Moon missions, [harsh lunar dust](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-180/) that can go orbital, [congestion and lack of regulation](https://jatan.space/a-registry-of-moon-missions/) in lunar orbit, the lunar south pole becoming a [region of convergence and potential contest](https://www.openlunar.org/blog/as-moon-missions-mount-globally-we-need-to-preserve-future-exploration-and-science) for technology, mining, infrastructure, and habitat development, and the changing geopolitical environment on Earth, our Moon’s scientific value as an [extraordinarily unique time capsule](https://jatan.space/why-explore-the-moon/) could become increasingly inaccessible and gated. That’s why the non-profit [Lunar Policy Platform](https://lunarpolicyplatform.org/foundation) (LPP), with support from the [Open Lunar Foundation](https://www.openlunar.org/) (a Moon Monday sponsor), consulted key scientific organizations like [COSPAR](https://cosparhq.cnes.fr/) and the [International Astronomical Union](https://www.iau.org/) (IAU) as well as universities and research centers worldwide to understand nuances of the situation. In the [ensuing guide](https://lunarpolicyplatform.org/science), LPP finds that because science doesn’t exist in a vacuum, the intersection of national, commercial, technological, and strategic objectives means there’s no single way forward to accommodate the scientific pursuits of all. In the project’s [key takeaways](https://spacewatch.global/2025/07/spacewatchgl-opinion-one-moon-many-interests-can-we-make-space-for-all/) shared before the guide’s impending public availability, LPP noted a concluding remark pertinent to preserving lunar science for all: > As lunar development accelerates, it’s tempting to fall back on familiar scripts: that science is neutral, that preservation requires exclusion, and that responsible actors will defer to experts. But the Moon is not just a research site. It’s a commons. \[...\] We can design governance tools that protect fragile sites without prioritising any one specific activity. Shared-use protocols, adaptive zoning, and rotational access are all terrestrially tested mechanisms that could allow multiple actors to coexist. \[...\] The challenge is to find that shared margin, ensure that protection does not entrench inequality, and that managed access does not become a proxy for power plays. *This section was originally published by me on the* [*blog*](https://www.openlunar.org/blog/lunar-collaboration) *&* [*newsletter*](https://www.openlunar.org/newsletter) *of Open Lunar Foundation (a Moon Monday sponsor) as their* [*Science Communications Lead*](https://jatan.space/joining-open-lunar-as-their-science-communications-lead/)*.* ## Key mission updates ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2025/08/long-march-5-chang-e-6-launch-altered-mission-trajectory.jpeg) ****Left:** Launch of the Chang’e 6 lunar sample return mission by a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang, Hainan island on May 3, 2024; ****Center:** Drop zone of the rocket’s payload fairing near the Philippine Sea before and after (red and green boxes) CNSA made mission profile modifications; ****Right:** The Chang’e 6 lunar lander’s descent & ascent trajectories for prograde and retrograde orbits (red and yellow arcs) so as to reach the targeted landing site on the Moon’s farside for its [immense scientific value](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-233/). Image: [CNSA / Xinhua](https://english.news.cn/20240503/12266387c16d4859a376bf5cbddc1798/c.html) / [GUO Zhilei et al.](https://english.news.cn/20240503/12266387c16d4859a376bf5cbddc1798/c.html) - Ling Xin [reports](https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3322331/how-philippines-forced-china-adjust-historic-mission-moons-far-side) that due to the Philippines government [voicing issues](https://www.leonarddavid.com/dumping-grounds-chinas-back-to-back-launches-heightens-philippine-space-agency-angst/) against China’s rocket stages entering their sovereign territories at sea, CNSA had to redesign the launch and flight trajectories of the [Chang’e 6](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-174/) mission which successfully [fetched samples](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-201/) from the Moon’s farside last year. The report is based on the [technical paper](https://dx.doi.org/10.3873/j.issn.1000-1328.2025.07.007) published in the Journal of Astronautics by the mission designers themselves, which provides interesting graphs as well. In particular, the mission profile modifications stretched Chang’e 6’s Moonward journey from 23 days to 53 days while narrowing the window for touching down within the primary landing region on the Moon’s farside. The landing region was not to be changed owing to its [immense scientific value](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-233/). At the end, everything has gladly worked out. - Astrobotic [announced](https://www.astrobotic.com/lunagrid-lite-completes-critical-design-review-flight-model-underway/) that its “LunaGrid-Lite” lunar surface power transfer demonstration mission targeting a 2026 launch has passed the Critical Design Review phase ahead of flight model build and assembly. As part of [public-private *Tipping Point* contracts](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-138/) in 2023, NASA awarded Astrobotic [$34.6 million](https://www.astrobotic.com/astrobotic-wins-34-6m-for-power-demo-mission-on-the-moon) for this mission. After landing, the company’s tethered [CubeRover](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-93/#meet-the-versatile-cuberover-from-astrobotic)—itself supported by a [$5.8 million](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/solicitations/tipping%5Fpoints/2020%5Fselections) *Tipping Point* contract—will unreel about 500 meters of high-voltage, 1 kilowatt power line across the surface. The demonstration will be a test for [LunaGrid](https://www.astrobotic.com/lunar-delivery/lunar-surface-power/), wherein Astrobotic aims to commercially deliver power to enable hardware and rovers on the Moon’s poles to survive the [poorly lit terrain](https://www.nasa.gov/ames/feature/the-dark-side-of-the-crater-how-light-looks-different-on-the-moon-and-what-nasa-is-doing) and frigid nights. Concerning another piece that would be part of LunaGrid, Astrobotic [said in May](https://www.astrobotic.com/astrobotic-lunar-wireless-charger-system-qualified-for-flight/) that it has completed the standard but critical set of [space environmental tests](https://jatan.space/how-we-test-moon-landers/) for its [wireless charging system](https://jatan.space/moon-monday-issue-96/#astrobotic-reveals-plans-for-first-ever-power-grid-on-the-moon) for hardware operating on the Moon. Also related is the company’s development of the [also NASA-funded](https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/three-companies-to-help-nasa-advance-solar-array-technology-for-moon) 20-meter tall, retractable polar solar arrays and its [newly picked up larger cousin](https://www.astrobotic.com/astrobotic-developing-xl-solar-array-tech-for-lunar-power-infrastructure/). These are aimed to be deployed on [maximally sunlit sites](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/271) at the Moon’s south pole. --- *Many thanks to* [***Catalyx Space***](https://catalyx.space)*,* [***Alexandra Witze***](http://alexandrawitze.com) *and* [***Gurbir Singh***](https://gurbir.co.uk) *for sponsoring this week’s Moon Monday! If you too appreciate my efforts to bring you this curated community resource on global lunar exploration for free, and without ads, kindly support my independent writing:* [Support Moon Monday 🌙](https://jatan.space/support)