NASA Astronauts may take up Skiing Lessons

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts could be trained in cross country skiing lessons as it will help them exploring the surface on the moon much faster.

Harrison Schmitt, lunar module pilot on Apollo 17 mission said that the next generation, who will inhabit on the lunar surface, should be taught skiing skills as it will help them covering large surface with minimum effort.

During the presentation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting Schmitt told mediapersons, "If I was running the astronaut office I certainly would recommend cross-country skiing, yes."

He further added, “If you've ever done cross-country skiing you know that on a level surface once you get a rhythm it is very easy to move quickly over large surfaces. You can propel yourself with a push. On the moon you don't slide, you glide above the surface."

Schmitt, a geologist is the first scientist to walk on the surface of the moon. He was actually to fly on the canceled Apollo 18 mission but then due to the pressure from scientist community was added on Apollo 17 as lunar module pilot.

While on Apollo 17 mission, Schmitt said to his fellow companion, Eugene Cernan, "Too bad I don't have my skis! ... Whoo! Can't keep my edges. Shhhoomp. Shhhoomp. Little hard to get a good hip rotation."

He said that the skiers don’t have to wear skis at all as the gravity on moon is just one-sixth that of Earth, although taking poles will help for balancing.

And, when one needs to stop then all lunar explorer has to do is to dig into the powdery lunar dust, he said.

"The debris layer is very soft - you can dig your heels in very easily," he added.

He said that Taurus-Littrow valley could be seen as a potential destination for a lunar ski resort.

Schmitt said he wanted his two pilot colleagues, Eugene Cernan and Ronald Evans who were along with him on lunar mission to learn the Nomadic skill but they didn’t listened to him.

He added thoughtfully that people who will live at the Nasa’s planned moon base will experience lunar skiing holidays.

Schmitt grabbed the title of "Moon’s fastest man" during the final Apollo mission of December 1972, his top speed was about 7.5 miles (12km) per hour.

Dr. Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt was born on July 3, 1935 in Santa Rica, New Mexico and is a geologist, astronaut and former U.S. senator.

Schmitt was the twelfth and last person to step onto the lunar surface.

In 1957 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in science from the California Institute of Technology and then spent a year studying geology at the University of Oslo in Norway. In 1964 he received a Ph. D degree in geology from Harvard University.

Schmitt is a strong advocate of returning to the Moon as the Moon could be used as a source of helium-3, a rare isotope of helium that can be used as a fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. He is currently chair of the NASA Advisory Council.

In 2006, NASA announced its plans to build a base on the moon by 2020 and hoping to use the lunar outpost as a launch-pad for exploring the solar system in coming generations. Space agencies from Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, India and Russia showed their interest to participate in the U.S. lunar program.

There were three factors that prompted NASA to locate the moon base at either the North or South Pole are first, the sites which the agency says are relatively unexplored, secondly, temperatures of those areas are more moderate than in the searing heat of the equatorial bright side and the numbing cold of the dark side. And, the third factor is the previously detected presence of unusual amounts of hydrogen at both poles.

Though, the right location will be chosen only after NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter begins mapping the moon which is scheduled for launch in October 2008.

The moon would be an excellent place to gaze at space with the high-tech scientific instruments, study the high-energy particles of solar wind and cosmic rays, study the climatic history of Earth and how the evolution of life took place.