The Sky at Night: Destination Moon (9 May on BBC Four)

The year 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of the last time an astronaut walked on the moon’s surface. We take a look back at the Apollo program’s legacy and look ahead to the future of lunar exploration. Maggie and Chris go to the Science Museum in London, where Maggie learns from space curator Doug Millard that one of the museum’s most famous exhibits, Apollo 10’s command module, almost didn’t make it back to Earth.

Chris learns from Nasa’s Dana Hurley that much of the technology needed for such a mission has yet to be invented, and that Nasa’s latest assault on the moon, the ‘Artemis’ programme, plans to set up an orbiting moon station and a shuttle from it to a permanent base on the moon’s surface. Despite this, the first dry run for the SLS rocket, Orion command capsule, and moon landing system is scheduled for later this year without a crew. Thirteen tiny ‘cubesats’ will be launched into lunar orbit on the first mission to learn more about the lunar surface in preparation for future human activity on the moon. These low-cost satellites are giving the next generation of space scientists and engineers their first hands-on experience with spacecraft.

Maggie talks to Craig Hardgrove, an associate professor from Arizona State University, who leads a relatively inexperienced team in building LunaH-Map. The pint-sized craft will scan the lunar surface for evidence of hydrogen, and therefore water, which will be enormously useful for future missions and moon bases to provide sustenance and fuel – once the technology is in place to deliver it.

Pete Lawrence is on hand for tips on how best to observe the moon from Earth during the upcoming lunar eclipse on the 16 May, and Chris learns from Professor Sara Russell of the Natural History Museum that the Apollo missions allowed science to identify moon asteroids here on Earth, and that future missions retrieving more moon rock might tell us even more about how the Earth formed and how life emerged.

Airdate: Mon 9 May 2022 at 22:00 on BBC Four

Season 2022 Episode 3

Our team of astronomers tell us what’s on view in the night sky. From comets to quasars, there is always something fascinating to discuss in the Universe.