Study Suggests Lunar Spacecraft Exhaust Could Obscure Clues to Origins of Life

Exhaust Methane Could Travel Pole-to-Pole in Under Two Lunar Days, Half of It Settling in Regions Potentially Harboring Original Ingredients of Earthly Life

A rendering of a lunar lander of the European Space Agency’s Argonaut program, which has its first mission to the moon scheduled for 2030.

Over half of the exhaust methane from lunar spacecraft could end up contaminating areas of the moon that might otherwise yield clues about the origins of earthly life, according to a recent study published by the Amer…