|
+ Play
Audio
|
+ Download Audio | +
Email to a friend | +
Join mailing list
Dec.
24, 2007: It's Christmas Eve, and you're snuggled
cozily in your den. A glowing fire gently crackles and pops
in the fireplace, and your head starts to droop as you nod
off. Just then, something cold and wet nudges your cheek.
You open your eyes to stare directly into a large black nose.
It's time to take the dog for his walk.
Grumbling
in vain, you put on your coat, snap the leash onto the wiggling
dog's collar, open the door to a rush of cold air. You step
outside and enter a magical landscape.
The
night isn't dark, it's glowing with a silvery-white light.
Up above, the 98% full moon looks huge and clear in the azure
sky. It just might be the brightest moon you've ever seen.
That's because it's the highest-riding full moon until the
year 2023.
Above:
The Moon photographed by P-M Heden of Vallentuna, Sweden.
And
not far from the beautiful moon glows fireplace-red Mars.
This Christmas Eve, Mars is at its closest to Earth for the
next nine years. Mars is also "at opposition." That's
astronomy-lingo for "directly opposite the sun."
It means Mars is up whenever the sun is down: on Christmas
Eve, the Red Planet will be visible all night long.
As
Christmas scenes go, it doesn't get much better. Gliding in
formation across the sky, the moon and Mars seem so close
you could almost reach up, grab the pair and bounce them down
the street for Fido to retrieve.
Or
maybe you could lasso them, as George says in the movie It's
a Wonderful Life. "Just say the word and I'll throw
a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey! That's a pretty good
idea! I'll give you the moon, Mary...."
In
the years ahead, NASA is going to lasso the moon.
NASA's giant Ares rocket, still on the drawing board, will
take form and then take mankind back to that brilliant silver
orb where scientists will learn how to harness the moon's
powers.
Plans
are to establish a lunar base for exploration and use the
moon's surface as a springboard to even further destinations.
At the moon's poles there is evidence of hydrogen and perhaps
actual water frozen in the soil. Furthermore, ordinary
moonrocks are made of minerals that contain more than
40% oxygen. These are resources that can be used to produce
rocket fuel, breathable air and a welcome drink on a dry,
dusty world.
Maybe
on some future Christmas Eve, one of us will step outside
of our cozy lunar cabin and walk our space-suited dog with
long, floating steps down some dusty lunar road. We'll look
up and say, "There's a pretty full Earth tonight!"
But
on this frosty Christmas Eve, your feet crunch Earth's cold
ground with a crisp clear sound as you walk back toward the
house looking up through the silvery stillness at the lovely
moon and its bright partner, Mars. The only other sounds you
hear are dog tags jingling like sleigh bells. Suddenly a
shadow flits across the moon. A cloud? A plane? A sleigh!
Maybe those were sleigh bells you heard!
Smiling
to yourself, you open the door to go back inside, taking one
last glance at the night sky and one of the loveliest heavenly
sights you’ll see for years.
Don't
forget to thank Fido.
SEND
THIS STORY TO A FRIEND
Author: Dauna Coulter
| Editor:
Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
|
