The Moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars.
-Arthur C. Clarke
Are you a selenophile? Are you someone who feels an enigmatic attraction for the Moon and the stars? Well, you're not alone. And there are plenty of reasons for you to feel inexplicably connected to the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The Moon – derived from the Latin word Luna - is our only permanent natural satellite, and it was formed 4.5 billion years ago when a rock slammed into our planet. Although it appears as a white satellite, the Moon's surface is dark. People have always been fascinated by this massive silica-rich globe that "illuminates" our planet at night.
“Ten years ago, the Moon was an inspiration to poets and an opportunity for lovers. Ten years from now, it will be just another airport “quotes Emmanuel G. Mesthene and guess what it is reality now. But have you ever wondered what if we explode moon with nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons are the most destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. Nuclear weapons produce ionizing radiation, which kills or sickens those exposed, contaminates the environment, and has long-term health consequences, including cancer and genetic damage. Less than one percent of the nuclear weapons in the world could disrupt the global climate and threaten as many as two billion people with starvation in a nuclear famine. The thousands of nuclear weapons possessed by the US and Russia could bring about a nuclear winter, destroying the essential ecosystems on which all life depends. A nuclear weapon is defined as an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or from a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb). Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. So what would happen if we carry these into space and that too for exploding moon? It is not that we are talking about fiction.
But first let’s understand the impact of a nuclear explosion on Earth. Contrary to popular belief, a nuclear explosion is not just a huge ball of fire and dust.Unlike conventional explosions, a single nuclear explosion can generate an intense pulse of thermal radiation that can start fires and burn skin over large areas. Needless to say, fatal radiation exposure in a nuclear explosion affects all living things within a radius. But that’s not all, special attention should be paid to the shockwave caused by a nuclear explosion as it can blast everything in its path. The strength of a shockwave can only be compared to powerful tsunamis capable of destroying entire cities. Furthermore, a nuclear explosion brings forth a sharp change in the environmental parameters.Thermal radiation and a shockwave destroy everything first followed by radiation consummates the rest. Intriguingly, such a scenario is only relevant for explosions on the Earth. Outside the Earth, the events take place a little unusually. In the 1950s, Scientists from NASA studied the behaviour of a nuclear bomb in space. In the course of the research, it turned that due to the lack of atmosphere in space there was neither a typical mushroom cloud(a distinctive pyrocumulus mushroom-shaped cloud of debris, smoke and usually condensed water vapor resulting from a large explosion) nor a blast wave(an area of pressure expanding supersonically outward from an explosive core). But the danger of radiation remains even in the cosmos. Radiation in vacuum propagates several times faster than on the Earth. Consequently, a nuclear explosion occurred anywhere near our planet would be lethal for humanity.
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| Source: Science ABC |
Now imagine that some maniac is able to lay a nuclear bomb in the bowels of the Moon. If the explosion transpires to be weak, our satellite will split into several large pieces.Subsequently resulting in the presence of not just one moon but several mini-moons. Envision the change in the night sky with the addition of several mini moons.The mechanics of the solar eclipse would also change as several parts of the moon will no longer be able to form together and block the sun. But, what if the detonation has an explosive force of four thousand Tsar bombs. This mega explosion abstains the Earth from losing its gravitational field. Small fragments of the moon might simply attract to our planet and orbit around it like space debris. As for the larger pieces, that condition will be hazardous for our planet. Larger fragments of the moon would leave their orbit and fly towards our Earth with tremendous speed.Snaring a couple satellites along, these fragments will then collapse on cities. Humanity has already had several encounters with space objects: the Tunguska event and the Chelyabinsk meteorite. But the reverberations of descending lunar debris would be unpleasant.
Succeeding the explosion, our planet won't have a moon. What are the consequences of losing a moon? How important is the moon to our planet? With the deprivation of a moon, the ebbing flow of the tides in the oceans will be negligible. Moreover, this would result in nutrients and oxygen to locomote weakly across the water bodies all over the Earth. It’s probable that many rivers and seas won’t have currents ensuing the water to become stagnant like a dirty aquarium. What happens to sea animals in such conditions? They perish. Hence, the marine inhabitants of our planet face the danger of extinction. Furthermore, every animal whose source of nourishment is fish also perishes. If our satellite disappears, the natural order of things to which Homo Sapiens are accustomed to will collapse as the length of the day will change. Without the moon, the axial tilt of the Earth will lose stability and the climate will actively begin to transform. The moon is a good stabilizer for our planet. As of now, the axial tilt of our planet is 23.4 degrees. With the disappearance of our natural satellite, according to scientists, the axial tilt will increase to 45 degrees. Such an increase in the figure will cause the poles to no longer be constantly cold and the equator will no longer be constantly hot. Thereby, the possibility of an ice age cannot be implausible. Moreover, this whole event could repeat itself in different parts of the plane every thousand years. It’s likely that the disappearance of eclipses and night becoming darker will be the centre of our attention in the middle of so many chaotic events.
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| Source: United States Department of Energy |
The ramifications of exploding the moon with nuclear weapons is certainly a petrifying scenario. Thus, to avoid such turn of events in 2016 MILAMOS(Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space) project was launched. MILAMOS project aims to develop a widely-accepted manual clarifying the fundamental rules applicable to the military use of outer space in peacetime.This project also further strengthens the 1963 law prohibiting nuclear weapons in space, their transportation and installation on space objects which also includes the moon. Due to this even a maniac with the demented objective to blow up the moon would abstain from taking such actions. Eurasian Times published that US President Donald Trump has issued the SPD-6, which lays out a national strategy for the responsible and effective use of space nuclear power and propulsion (SNPP) systems. It comes at a time when China’s Chang’e-5 successfully completed its moon mission and returned with lunar samples. The Chinese expert claims that the signing of SPD-6 shows the US’ intent to drag China into a space race. . A Chinese media report says that the US’ ambitions may lead to future lunar military projects as it seeks space supremacy regardless of the damages it would cause.
While the US claims that the plant would “support a sustained lunar presence and exploration of Mars”, China speculates military purposes behind the establishment. Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told that the moon is rich in helium-3, which can be used to produce energy by nuclear fusion. In the name of building a nuclear power plant which includes exploitation of nuclear materials, the US may turn the moon into a production site of nuclear weapons, he alleged.
Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University alleged the US plan is against the international consensus on using outer space. As per the Moon Treaty, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979, the celestial bodies and the moon are “not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means”. Earlier this year, President Trump had proposed new rules, completely in contrast to the earlier agreement. Called ‘Artemis Accord’, this allows the use of lunar resources for commercial gain. The accord also focuses on establishing “safety zones” around landing sites, which could be interpreted as de facto ownership of areas of the moon, which is forbidden by the Outer Space Treaty.
The Outer Space Treaty was largely based on the ‘Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space’. It provides a basic framework for international space law.
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| Source: The Space Thinkers |
What is this really all about? Profit? Prestige? The Idaho National Laboratory, which is eager to develop the lunar SMR prototype, sees this as an opportunity to emphasize “the United States’ global leadership in nuclear innovation,” the lab’s John Wagner told Newshour. With the ever-expanding crises on Earth, caused by the ravaging effects of climate change as well as the current pandemic, spending large amount of sums to stick reactors on the Moon or Mars is more than madness; it is morally irresponsible. NASA’s Anthony Calomino told Space News. “The surface of the moon provides us an opportunity to fabricate, test and flight qualify a space fission system,” he said. The Moon is seen as our launch pad to Mars. Now, it seems, it will also become our latest nuclear dustbin. If there is a meltdown, or a cascade of accidents among the cluster of small identical reactors there, all of which could suffer the same failure at the same time, it will become our next nuclear wasteland.
Infact, humanity is unconscious to the reality of how accustomed they are to the moon: tracking the moon’s cycle, building scary anecdotes about the full moon, monitoring the effect of its phases on tides and other phenomena. Nature arranged everything in an ideal way ensuring perfect balance on the Earth.I am happy to say “goodnight moon.” But I don’t want to say “goodbye.”
Hello Readers,
This article was written in collaboration with the marvelous Yashu Gupta. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude towards her for her awesome ideas and writing. Hoping on working again with her in the future. I hope you enjoyed this extremely informative article.
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