Jennifer Heldmann: The Moon

So will the moon escape the earth's orbit before the sun explodes?

Wow, how old is she?I can't find any information about her.

You do realise she is a PhD? Please take the time to read her Bio. What is the basis of your criticism? To be as sarcastic as you are, surely you must be better qualified than her? Please provide us with your Bio, including your pre and post graduate academic qualifications and the institutions where they were attained. Kindly also provide us with links to your published works, which certainly must be extensive.

If you cannot provide these things, maybe you should rather keep your sarcastic, unfounded, ad hominem criticism to yourself. Rather go read a book.

Absolutely! But thats the point. If you are intelligent enough to go to Harvard you would know you couldnt handle a camera and leave it to those who went to the place where they teach a thing or two about photography!

I thank Jennifer Heldmann for talking to us about the moon, though it was basically at a high school l or maybe astronomy intro 101 level, for it seems that there is not near enough discussion about the solar system and the the rest of the universe in general, as demonstrated by some of the questions asked, but that's what these lectures are all about.
She mentioned the dust of the moon, this is very important because the dust of the moon, like she said, is very different than that of the earth. As I understand it, the moon dust is composed of micro shards of glass and it is very sharp and very corrosive to mechanical gears and seals, not to mention very sticky.
She also mentioned about the areas of the moon in permanent shadow. There has been a lot of buzz lately about there being ice there but as I understand it, it's not actually ice as we think of it but ice at the molecular level so those that think that this could be used as a source of water and fuel should keep in mind that this would have to be processed.
She also brought up the current theory of how the moon was formed and though I believe this makes sense because the earth and the moon have the same chemical signature. However, it seems to me that if another body was in more or less the same orbit and, let's say on the opposite side of the sun, but with a slower or faster orbit than that of the earth that they would eventually come within each others gravity wells and if the moon was in the right place it could be captured by the earth and they would have the same chemical signatures because they would have been made of the same material. I am not saying that the current theory is wrong, probably not, but it is possible.
She also mentioned that there is not much metal on the moon. However, I just recently read that there may be more metals there than had been previously thought. Apparently, it was accumulated on the near side of the moon during the time when the moon was more molten due to the gravitational pull of the earth, thus pulling the metals to the near earth side, though it may be of comparatively small quantities it may be worth mining. If you have some doubts about this think about the moons gravitational effect that causes the tides here on the earth.
She also brought up about the laser mirrors that were left on the moon by the Apollo landings. For those that want evidence that man actually walked on the moon, they should check the web for these that are still being used to measure the distance from the earth and how much the moons distance has increased.
By the way, I am very much apposed to a maned base on the moon. The main reason is cost, it's a cost verses benefit thing. In my opinion a maned mission, not to mention a maned base, will not achieve any more than a robot mission but the cost would be enormous. For example, we can send four rovers to Mars for the cost of one shuttle launch and there would have to be many launches to support a moon base for machinery, personal and supplies and one must also consider that the moon has only one sixth the gravity of earth and I don't think the moon has a magnetosphere, nor does Mars.
I understand that knowledge is priceless, or is it, but I believe that we, as tax payers, should demand that we get the most for our money and not spend it just to make some contractors very wealthy. I also find it kind of strange that the panel that submitted the NASA plans to the president, which all included maned missions to the moon and Mars, are the same people that used to work for the same companies that could well be awarded the contracts to build the rockets and other things needed to take them there and support them on their stay. Hasn't anyone else given this some thought?

Nice summary of the moon and it's history. However, I question the "impact theory" when it comes to explaining how the moon formed (or why Venus has retrograde rotation, why Uranus is oriented on its side, etc.). Nice theories with no evidentiary support. Perhaps we have much more to learn that we are willing to acknowledge.

I like how she reminds us constantly that everything she tells us is just the best explanation that she has at the moment. Most of the time when smart people talk about the universe and its origin, they like to pretend that their theories are fact.

I like the topic, but the speaker could have positioned herself in a way that we could look upon her face and read her enthusiasm.

I suppose this is merely a theory, right? Well how about the "God created the thing" theory! How am i supposed to believe her when she's like 18 years old and probably never been kissed! Hello!!! They say there was a bang or a solar nebula theory? Who created the bang? I'd believe her if she says she knows how a jelly doughnut is created.

Maybe that person went to Harvard, but never learned how to use a camera.