Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-08
HUMANS COULD NOT LIVE
ON MOON, SCIENCE SHOWS
Rocket Inventions to Get There Held
Futile Because of Lack of Oxygen
in Atmosphere.

lection to this theory arises that con-
fronts the ons Of volcanic origin
namely, the large discrepancy in the
size of such craters on the earth and
on the moon. An additional fault with
the theory Is the absence Of large scars
on the earth, although it was probably
formed simultaneously with the moon.
The details of the moons surface Is
now accurately known, and this accu-
racy may be realized when it Is stated
that structures only one mile in diam.
eter are visible through modern astro-
nomical telescopes.
But what Of the possible atmosphere
existing on the moon? Whatever 1t
holds, 1t does not contain sufficient oxy-
gen to allow human beings to Wall
about it freely as we do on earth. AS
matter of fact. 1t does not contain one
part OF oxygen for every 100000 that
the earth's atmosphere doesI
Science Of Spectroscopy.
How we arrive at this remarkable
conclusion is another splendid example
Of the use Of that branch of the science
known as spectroscopy, or the study Of
the characteristic spectrum Of various
substances, either in emission or alb
sorption. Emission in that case, where
the substance has somehow been ex-
cited so that it emits light. and abb
sorption where light of some known
wave length passes through the sub
stance, here usually gas. which picks
out certain parts Of the radiation Sc
lectivity.
A familiar example Of emission and
absorption may be given in the case
Of the element sodium, in its pure state
whitish-gTay metal, very active
chemically, but because of this very
property OF combining readily with
other elements, found in many COM
mon substances, notably table salt
II common salt is placed in flame
and examined with a spectroscope
few bright lines will be visible, Of which
by far the most prominent is the So
called D line, which comes In the yell
low region. This is the emission spec
trum of sodium.
If a bright source Of light, preferably
an electric light, is set up and viewed
spectrum will be observed, l. e., one
without any lines in it whatever, but
merely a continual change of color
from violet through blue, green, yellow
and shading of into blackness at a
very deep red. Now interpose a trans
parent cell containing sodium vapor
In the path Of the beam and q strange
change has taken place. No longer do
we see the continuous spectrum but
this same spectrum overlaid with dark
lines at the same places where we for
merly saw the bright lines in the ennis
sion case. This Is the ABSORPTION spec-
trum Of sodium. Thus we could detect
the presence Of sodium in any sub
stance forever after If we accurately
measured the exact place in the spec
trum where these lines came. This has
sometimes been referred to as finger
printing" the element.
Latest Attempts Cited.
just such a similar method Is used
IN determining whether the moons at
moSphere contains certain elements or
tempts has just been reported by DR..
Brian O'Brien Of the Institute of Ap-
piled Optics at the University of Roch-
ester, at the meeting of the American
Physical Society in New York City. DR..
OBrien has proved that a by-product
OF oxygen, called ozone, is not present
In the moons atmosphere by more
tnan factor Of one part in 100000,
compared to the amount in the atrnos-
phere Of the earth.
Ozone Is sometimes detected on the
earth by its characteristic odor iu1nae-
diately after lightning has struck some
OBJECT. 1t Is extremely light, and as a
result rises rapidly 50 that this odor
Is quickly dissipated. Actually most Of
the ozone on the earth is confined 10
the farther edge OF the 20-mile blanket
OF air covering the earth. The users OF
the newer forms Of ultraviolet sun
lamps may have noticed the odor after
the lamps have been operated for o
short while
One final bit of information was OBJ
tanned by DR.. O'Brien which may in
the course OF time lead to our knowl-
edge OF the kind Of matter contained
IN the moons structure. Experiments
on the rejecting power Of the moon
showed that the material present was
not OF any sort commonly present on
the earth: When asked to comment on
this finding DR.. OBrien with true
scientific spirit) refused to speculate
on what the possible structure of the
moons surface might be, but merely
stated that he was next going to inves-
ugate this problem and report his re-
suits IN future paper. The only def
Mite clue as to the material in the
moon was that it definitely was not
made of green cheese.