LUNAR EXPLORATION

1. The Earth's nearest celestial neighbour - the Moon - is only 384,400 km away from us. That is why, it appears sufficiently large and bright Lunar exploration began in 1959 when the Soviet Union sent its Luna-3 spacecraft around the Moon. It radioed back- the first photographs of the Moon's far side. In July 1969 two American astronauts landed on the Moon and carried out a variety of experiments on the surface of the Moon.

2. The kilometres of film exposed by the astronauts, the specimens of rock brought back to the Earth and other data studied by hundreds of scientists from countries all over the Earth have led to new views on several basic problems.

3. Before the Moon landings it was thought that the Moon was a simple body with the same composition throughout. But we now know it to be a body with a metallic core at its centre a silica-rich mantle and a crust. Lunar soils proved to contain a type of structure that is not common on Earth. Small glassy globules were present in the soil.

4. The types of rocks that were encountered on the Moon are familiar to our geologists. However, almost all of these rocks have lower proportions of elements with lower melting points than does the Earth. Detailed examinations of the lunar rocks indicate to relatively high proportions of elements with high melting points such as calcium, aluminium and titanium. So the Moon and the Earth seem to lie more similar than had been thought for the last few years. None of the lunar rocks contain any trace of water bound inside their minerals. This ends all hope that water and life existed on the Moon at any time in the past.

5. Thus, due to the lunar exploration the scientists were provided with some information about the composition of the solar system, with the information of the Moon and its relationship to the Earth. One day we may be able to use the far side of the Moon as a site for scientific observatories, for optical, ultraviolet or infrared observations. Twenty or thirty years from now we may be able to visit the Moon as researchers or even as tourists.

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What purpose will the Moon's surface be used in future for?