The CALM (Close Approach Lunar Model) takes us back to the dawn of the Apollo age and the first Apollo landings. This is where science took the wrong turn that changed earth and lunar science, and left us with more questions than answers.
The intellectual buildup leading to the Apollo missions brought on some of the greatest engineering and scientific achievements of mankind. Scientific collaboration and speculation were at a fever pitch as the first manned excursions to the moon approached. It was thought that science was on the verge of the “big one” and that the Apollo landings would answer the question of how the earth-moon system came to be.
Alas, it was discovered that the situation was much more complex than ever imagined. Though the Apollo missions provided valuable scientific data, samples and knowledge, it was roundly agreed that Apollo failed to answer the most important question of all, “How did the earth-moon system come to be?” Interest in the moon as well as the questions of the origin of the earth and moon as a system, drifted off into the many labs and scientific facilities which handled and catalogued the material and information of the Apollo missions. NASA and the scientific community moved on to the space shuttle, space station, and interplanetary exploration, leaving our nearest neighbor to the backyard astronomer.
In reality a small cadre of lunar scientists still exists. The Lunar and Planetary Science Institute and its university partners promote and facilitate the continuing pursuit of lunar science.
Presented here is my model which is based on our current understanding of, “How did our earth-moon system come to be as it is now, and how might the moon impact global climate today?” It is not an origin theory but rather a theory of secondary close approach. A history of the earth and moon show us that the heating from this close approach is still running the earth’s climate today.