2020-03-01 Reader\'s Digest AUNZ

fromthebottomrow,lookingniftyin

suitsandties.Besidethisisa photoof

O’BrienwithCernanduringCernan’s

visittoPerthin2016,theyearbefore

hedied.“Webothlooka bitdifferent

theretowhenI lecturedhim,”O’Brien

saidwhenI stoppedbyhishouseone

afternooninFebruary2019.I

askedwhatthey’dtalked

about.“Moondust,”he

repliedwitha grin.

O ’ B r i e n w a s

gearing up for

atriptoTexas,

where he was

dueto present

ataNASAcon-

ference called

Microsymposium

60:Forwardtothe

MoontoStay.He’d

be making the jour-

neyalone;hisbelovedwife

diedin2017.O’Brienwasconcerned

abouthowhe’dgetthecompression

stockingsoffonhisownafterthe

f light,butundauntedbythethought

ofpresentingtoa crowdof200,in-

cludingrepresentativesfromthe

UScompaniesauthorisedbyNASA

todeliverpayloadstothemoon.He

said,somewhatenigmatically,“Ilook

forwardtoa lotmoredustdetectors.”

OntheshelvesofO’Brien’sof-

fice,spacememorabiliaworthyof

a majorgeek-outwasunceremoni-

ouslyjumbled.I inspectedlife-size

modelsofhisvariousDDEs,with

plaques affixed describing which

O’Briensuggestedthatthoserocks
hadlosttheirdustycoatingas the
sun’sangleschanged.
Thedebatesareongoing.
“Wereallywon’tknowuntilwego
there,”Metzgersays.Hefeelspretty
confident,though,thatO’Brienis
rightandthathistheorysolves
theSurveyor 3 my ster y.
Anyoneplanning a
moonmission,he
says,shouldex-
pect levitating
dust storms
every sunrise
andduststicki-
nessduringthe
lunarday.
With coun-
triesandcompa-
niesjostlingtoset
upoperations inthe
moon’smostdesirablesites

• mainlythelunarpoles,wherewa-
  tericeissupposedlyabundant– life
  uptherecouldquicklydevolveinto
  adustyandchaoticmess,ripefor
  humanconf lict.TheHagueInter-
  nationalSpaceResourcesGovern-
  anceWorkingGrouphasalready
  begundraftingrecommendations
  forlunar‘safetyzones’and‘priority
  rights’.Perhapstheyoughttoinclude
  a clause on housekeeping.

ONTHEWALLofO’Brien’sgarage

officeinPerthisa signedphotograph

oftheApolloastronautclassof1964.

BuzzAldrinandGene Cernan smile

MOONDUST IS

DEFINITELY

WORKING ITS

WAY INTO THE

ZEITGEIST

120 March 2020

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