NASA released this graphic of the front (left) and back (right) of the Moon, based on gravity data from NASA’s GRAIL mission and topography data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The graphic shows regions of high and low densities of the lunar highlands. Red is high and blue is low. White shows mare basalt regions and solid circles are prominent impact basins. On the back side of the Moon, the South Pole-Aitken basin, has a higher than average density that reflects its atypical iron-rich surface composition. Below is a highly detail gravity map of the front (visible) side of the Moon. You can watch the movie.
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LRO
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Lunar Topographic Map
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NASA has released a nearly complete topographic map of the Moon at a resolution of 100 meters (the Global Lunar DTM 100 m topographic model – GLD100) With the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Wide Angle Camera and the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument, scientists can now accurately portray the shape of the entire moon at high resolution. Additional information can be found at the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera center at Arizona State University. |
1959 – Twelve Men On The Moon
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team recently released this image featuring the famous crater Copernicus with its ejecta splashed across much of the face of the Moon. Copernicus and the crater Eratosthenes lie just south of Mare Imbrium. To the east of Copernicus and south of Eratosthenes lies the nearly featureless plain called Sinus Aestuum. Here, just southeast of Eratosthenes lies the location of a proposed Moon Base. In addition to the scientific value of this area, the rich ores of the Rima Bode regional dark mantling deposit lie nearby. |
On 20 March 1959, Arthur G. Trudeau, Chief of Research and Development for the U.S. Army, submitted a request for the study to place a lunar outpost on the Moon. The result was Project Horizon, a plan (dated 9 June 1959) to place a military base with 10-20 men on the surface of the Moon by 1965. Full details are in Vol. I and Vol. II (pdf). The introduction to the proposal stated that the establishment of a lunar base would:
It further stated the following, prescient about the Soviet manned capability, but extremely optimistic about the timetable for the Moon Base:
Underlying all of this was the traditional von Braun team approach:
The proposal discusses the ongoing development of the Saturn I by ARPA, expecting it would be fully operational by 1963. The Saturn I stood more than 200 feet tall, and would be superseded by the Saturn II in 1964, standing 304 feet tall. By the end of 1964, a total of 72 Saturn I rockets would have been launched on various programs of discovery, including 40 to support the manned lunar base. In order to support the full complement of 12 men, 61 Saturn I and 88 Saturn II launches would be required by the end of 1966, landing 490,000 pounds of cargo on the lunar surface. 64 launches were scheduled for 1967, landing an additional 266,000 pounds of supplies. The total cost of the eight and one-half year program was estimated to be $6 Billion. The von Braun team thought very large indeed. |
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GRAIL
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GRAIL is one of those nifty experiments. Relatively small, GRAIL consists of two spacecraft weighing less than 500kg each. Orbiting the Moon, the two craft will piece together an extremely detailed map of the Moon’s gravitational field. This will allow scientists to construct a model of the interior structure of the Moon from crust to core. The two GRAIL spacecraft will be launched aboard a Delta II rocket during a 26 day window, which opens on 8 September 2011. Lasting only 90 days, the mission is designed to avoid the lunar eclipses of 10 December 2011 and 4 June 2012. The GRAIL mission’s principal investigator is Maria Zuber, who is chair of MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science. In 2008, she was selected by NASA as the first woman ever to head a major planetary robotic research mission. |
The GRAIL spacecraft design and their components are derived from Lockheed Martin’s XSS-11 (pdf) spacecraft heritage. GRAIL’s science team includes NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, JPL, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the University of Arizona, the University of Paris and the Southwest Research Institute. Four of the Science Team members (Frank Lemoine, Greg Neumann, Dave Smith, Maria Zuber) have ties to current lunar missions (LRO and Kaguya/SELENE) The GRAIL spacecraft is designed to conduct the following measurements:
The GRAIL website describes the mission objectives this way: |
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LCROSS – IMPACT Imaged by Diviner on LRO
From the UCLA Diviner LRO blog:
The LRO Diviner instrument obtained infrared observations of the LCROSS impact this morning. LRO flew by the LCROSS Centaur impact site 90 seconds after impact at a distance of ~80 km. Diviner was commanded to observe the impact site on eight successive orbits, and obtained a series of thermal maps before and after the impact at approximately two hour intervals at an angle of approximately 48 degrees off nadir. In this viewing geometry, the spatial footprint of each Diviner detector was roughly 300 by 700 meters.
Credit: NASA / GSFC / UCLA
From the Planetary Society Blog:
preliminary, uncalibrated Diviner thermal maps of the impact site acquired two hours before the impact, and 90 seconds after the impact. The thermal signature of the impact was clearly detected in all four Diviner thermal mapping channels.
LCROSS – Impact
Images and Events of the final hour of the LCROSS mission.
3:42 – I MB data rate has been confirmed
3:43 – First Image from LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft
3:48 – All Payload Instruments are Operating Nominally
3:59 – 3500 MPH at 3400 Miles from the Moon
4:23 – Poll of All Systems Ready for Observing Impact
4:31 – Impact of Centaur Stage
4:35 Impact of LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft
A possible impact image in the infrared can be seen at the forum at NasaSpaceFlight.com.
![]() Centaur after Separation #1 with Low Data Rate Transmission |
![]() Centaur after Separation #2 with Low Data Rate Transmission |
![]() First Image of Moon after High Data Rate Enabled |
![]() Lunar Image |
![]() 10 Minutes Before Impact |
![]() Aim Point at Cursor Arrow |
![]() 4 Minutes Infrared Image |
![]() 1 Minute – Transition to Flash Mode |
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It will be several days before the data has been calibrated and results begin to be released.
Credit: Screen Shots of NASA TV Images |
LCROSS – Brace for Impact
![]() Credit: NASA Image |
Tomorrow morning at 4:31:20 PDT (Phoenix time), the Centaur upper stage of the LRO mission will impact Cabeus crater on the Moon. At 4:35:39 the LCROSS instrument package will impact the Moon, having recorded the Centaur impact with a variety of imaging and spectroscopic instruments. What are we looking for? WATER. Worth its weight in gold. A complete list of events leading up to impact can be found at the LCROSS Flight Director’s Blog. Key events:
The latest LCROSS news can be found here. Watch the LCROSS impact live starting at 3:30 PDT on NASA TV. You can follow the live blog at NasaSpaceFlight. Current comments on the last page listed in the upper left. |