21/28 December 2019 | New Scientist | 25

2019 through a lens

Neither mission was a complete failure.

Vikram rode with the Chandrayaan 2

spacecraft, which is still in orbit and has

its own scientific instruments to map the

moon’s surface and study its atmosphere.

Beresheet made Israel just the seventh

nation to orbit the moon.

One major goal of both landers was

to learn more about the lunar surface,

particularly the water ice near the moon’s

south pole that makes it a promising target

for human exploration. In fact, in 2019,

US vice president Mike Pence announced

a directive to send American astronauts,

including the first woman on the moon,

to its south pole by 2024 in what has been

named the Artemis programme.

That marked an acceleration in NASA’s

plans to return humans to the moon,

and the agency has already started work,

selecting three landers to carry scientific

instruments to the surface in preparation

for eventually sending people again.

One of those landers, built by Astrobotic,

is also contracted to carry the UK’s first

rover to the moon – it is being built by UK

start-up SpaceBit, as announced at New

Scientist Live in October.

The same month, it was revealed that

three of space flight’s biggest private players,

Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and

Lockheed Martin, are teaming up to build

a lander to get humans to the lunar surface.

There are obstacles, both technical and

political, between now and putting people

on the moon for the first time in half a

century. But the Artemis programme

has spurred the space industry to action,

and even if it is a long journey to make

the return, the odyssey has already begun. ❚

Exploring the solar system

Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX

revealed its Starship,

designed to carry people

to the moon and Mars, in

September. The stainless

steel prototype pictured

(far left) is the Mk1 in

Texas. The project had

a setback in November

when a tank on the Mk1

exploded during testing,

destroying part of the

craft. SpaceX is working

on another version,

the Mk2, in Florida and

has started on its third

prototype. An orbital flight

is expected next year.

In January, China’s lunar

lander, Chang’e 4, raised

a little garden of cotton

plants on the far side of

the moon (above left) –

hinting that humans could

grow food on its surface

in the future. But soon

Clockwise from left:

Photographer Loren Elliott

Agency Getty Images

Agency Chongqing University/

CLEP

Agency CLEP/CNSA

Agency JAXA

after the cotton seeds

sprouted, night fell

and the temperature

plummeted, killing off

the plants. The lander is

the first to touch down

successfully on the far

side of the moon. Its lunar

rover is pictured above.

Japan’s spacecraft

Hayabusa2 bombed an

asteroid in April. Hovering

500 metres above the

surface of Ryugu, it shot

a copper projectile packed

with explosives towards

the rocky landscape.

This sent debris into orbit

(left) and made a crater.

Hayabusa2 then landed

on Ryugu to collect a

sample from this crater.

The spacecraft is now

on its way back to Earth

and should reach us at

the end of 2020.

Richard III

A car park in Leicester, UK, hosted a

scene worthy of Shakespeare. In 2012,

a team of geneticists and historians

announced they had excavated the

remains of Richard III, former king of

England. The skeleton showed signs of

spinal curvature and DNA evidence from

his descendants supported the find.

Face transplants

The first full transplant took place

in 2010. In a 24-hour operation,

a Spanish farmer who had

accidentally shot himself had

the remains of his face removed,

leaving just his eyeballs and

tongue. The rest was replaced

by the entire face of a dead donor.

Leah Crane is New Scientist’s

space and physics reporter and

is based in Chicago

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