One of the oldest, deepest, and largest impact craters on the Moon provides a window into the history and makeup of our celestial companion, and needs to be studied in more detail, says a team of lunar scientists. The South Pole-Aitken Basin on the Moon formed from a gigantic impact about 4.3 billion years ago.
In a new paper, Daniel Moriarty of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and colleagues used a combination of computer models, remote sensing data, and data from Apollo lunar samples to help refine the timeline of the Moon’s development. They focused on data from the South Pole-Aitken basin, a 1,200-mile-(1,900 km)-wide crater that formed when a large impactor with a heavy metal core smashed into the lunar surface billions of years ago.
Were you following this:
NASA to Discuss Second Hot Fire Test of Rocket for Artemis Missions | NASA
NASA considers delaying Trump's 2024 crewed Moon mission - SlashGear
NASA reassesses Trump's 2024 moon goal - POLITICO
It has been widely anticipated that the 2024 goal would be impossible to meet given that a new rocket, capsule, lunar lander, and other components still need to be developed and fully tested.
This illustration made available by NASA in April 2020 depicts Artemis astronauts on the moon. | NASA via AP
* * *
NASA is reviewing the Trump administration's plan to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024 and will decide in the next few months whether the first three missions now scheduled for the Artemis program will need to be delayed.
Other things to check out:
Moon Trees stand as testaments to first lunar voyages | Technology Today | theredstonerocket.com
Detailed vector map of the United States. Each State is it's own shape and can be colored to your preference. Excellent for political elections data.
The craters, mountains and plains of the Moon stretched beneath the Apollo 14 Command and Service Module Kitty Hawk in February 1971. While Commander Alan Shepard and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell explored the Fra Mauro region of Earth's celestial neighbor, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa conducted observations, experiments and scientific investigations in lunar orbit.
Ask Storm Team 11: Why would the moon be out during the day?
Tuesday’s Ask Storm Team 11 question was: “How come I can see the moon in the sky during the middle of the day sometimes?”
We often think of the moon coming out as the sun goes down, but that’s really only the case about once a month: when you have a full moon. In the case of a full moon, the moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise, and you can see the moon throughout the night.
Almost every day, the moon is visible during the day at some point though because the moon reflects the sun’s light. When the moon is high enough in the sky during the day, it reflects more light making it appear brighter in the sky.
The Moon's Biggest Crater Is Revealing Lunar Formation Secrets We Never Knew
A crater that covers nearly a quarter of the Moon 's surface has revealed new information on how Earth's natural satellite buddy formed - and the findings have tremendous implications, researchers say.
A new analysis of the material ejected from the South Pole-Aitken basin impact has allowed scientists to refine the timeline of the development of the lunar mantle and crust, using radioactive thorium to uncover the order of events.
"These results," wrote a team of researchers led by planetary geologist Daniel Moriarty of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, "have important implications for understanding the formation and evolution of the Moon."
Astro Bob: 'Earth wind' may generate water on the moon | Park Rapids Enterprise
Finding water on the barren moon is one of the most remarkable discoveries of the post-Apollo era. Satellite mapping has revealed ice within permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles and more recently in Clavius , a prominent crater on the lunar nearside that basks in sunshine two weeks out of every month. Comets and meteoroids likely delivered the water that eventually froze into ice, although water-rich lavas that erupted in the moon's distant past may have contributed, too.
Happening on Twitter
The Largest Crater on the Moon Reveals Secrets About its Early History - https://t.co/kgJJPM3azE By @Nancy_A https://t.co/f0FG55bAWC universetoday (from Courtenay, British Columbia) Wed Feb 17 18:37:28 +0000 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment