Yes, we really did go to the moon 40 years ago on the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, sparking a moon race that is still going on. A lunar geochemist says is still lots to learn from the moon rocks collected there. And we almost didn’t collect them at all!

Researcher Randy L. Korotev has studied lunar samples and their chemical compositions since he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin and “was in the right place at the right time” in 1969 to be a part of a team to study some of the first lunar samples. He says, “We went to the moon and collected samples before we knew much about the moon. It’s only been fairly recently that we decided that we should look closer at these Apollo 11 samples. We know even more now and can ask smarter questions.”
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Countries (including the US) are vying to set up colonies on the moon. But once they get there, they’re going to have to build shelters.

Researcher Houssam Toutanji has developed the concept of creating concrete structures on the lunar surface without the use of water. Traditional concrete consists of cement and water mixed with aggregates. While some parts of the Moon may have water, that resource may be more valuable for astronaut?s consumption rather than building structures. But his research shows that those astronauts can turn to a new type of waterless concrete that uses lunar soil as the aggregate and sulfur as a binding agent.
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As we get ready to join a host of European nations, as well as China, in a race to the moon to shovel up the valuable Helium 3 dust lying on the surface, we have long wished there was water on the moon for the thirsty miners who will be working there. Now it turns out that WATER is lying on the moon’s surface too, encased in crystal “beads.” Since this means there is water INSIDE the moon, it indicates that our satellite may have been created in a slightly different way than we have long thought it was.
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It has been 35 years since humans last walked on the moon,but there has been much recent discussion about returning(and regular readers of this websiteknow why). However, there are concerns about the radiation danger forastronauts during long missions on the lunar surface.

A significant part of that danger results from solar storms,which can shoot particles from the sun to Earth at nearlythe speed of light and can heat oxygen in the Earth’sionosphere and send it in a hazardous stream toward the moon.
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