Scientific American - 11.2019

8 Scientific American, November 2019

LETTERS

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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form a large moon. They come in a wide

variety of shapes, sizes, and thermal and

rotational states. Key to the size of the

satellite that can be formed from a synes-

tia is the amount of mass that is injected

into orbit in the outer regions of the body.

Only a small fraction of impacts will in-

ject enough mass into orbit to form a

moon as large as ours, and we are still

working out what range of conditions

could make it.

Synestias are a new part of the grand

mystery of how rare life on Earth is. And

whether a “dual planet” system like our

own is common is still very much an

open question. We will keep working to

understand which of our planet’s special

characteristics were determined during

its formation.

LUNAR LITTER

I read “Mapping the Mission,” Edward

Bell’s breakdown of Apollo 11’ s landing,

with great interest. Could you clarify

what happened to the equipment and to

the Stars and Stripes banner that was left

on the moon’s surface? Were they blown

away by the exhaust gases and hidden by

dust when the explorers departed in the

lunar module?

Jacques Van Geersdaele Belgium

THE EDITORS REPLY: According to nasa,
the American flag indeed was likely
knocked over by the rocket blast as the lu-
nar module lifted off from the moon. Ei-
ther way, its stars and stripes are proba-
bly long gone, faded by the intense ultra-
violet radiation on our natural satellite.
The lunar module’s descent stage and sci-
entific instruments are thought to re-
main on the moon, albeit weathered by
micrometeorites, radiation and extreme
temperature changes.

ERRATUM

“Lunar Land Grab,” by Adam Mann,

should have said that 109 countries are

now party to the Outer Space Treaty, not

107.  Additionally, the article refers to
2012 as the original deadline for the
Google Lunar XPRIZE. To clarify: in the
initial competition, participants had un-
til the end of that year to win the full
grand prize, after which a reduced prize
would be available until the end of 2014.

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