Category Archives: Lunar Mapping

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 2-5 Nov 2012

Posted on by

LRO-LAMP Detects Helium

NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LAMP (Lyman Alpha Mapping Project) Spectrometer Sensed Noble Gas Helium For The First Time, Say Scientists From SWRI; Principal Investigator Alan Stern Points To Bigger Question Of Whether Helium Comes From Interior Source Such As Radioactive Decay Or From Solar Wind; 1972 Apollo 17 LACE (Lunar Atmosphere Composition Experiment) In Situ Measurements Agree With Findings / Point To Future Search For Argon

Image Credit: NASA, NASA Goddard/Debbie McCallum

Tuesday / 18 September 2012

Posted on by

GRAIL: Moon Crust Thinner Than Expected

Maria Zuber, GRAIL PI, Reveals High-Resolution Gravity Map / Initial Results Of Mission At Recent Seminar; Average Thickness Of Lunar Crust Appears To Be 30km, About Half Of Previous Estimate; High Correlations Between Topography & Gravitational Field; GRAIL Unable To Confirm Existence Of Hypothetical Ancient Impact Basins; Map Is 3-4 Times More Detailed Than Those Of Kaguya Or Lunar Prospector

Image Credit: NASA, Wikipedia

Friday / 7 September 2012

Posted on by

GRAIL Now In Extended Science Mission

Extended Science Phase Of GRAIL Mission From 30 Aug – 3 Dec; Spacecraft Will Take Even Closer Look At Lunar Gravity Field By Dropping To Average Orbit Of 23km (Compared To 55-km Orbit On Primary Mission); Objective Of NASA Mission Is To Generate The Most Accurate Gravity Map Of Moon & From That Derive Its Internal Structure / Evolution

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 31 Aug – 3 Sep 2012

Posted on by

LRO Provides More Evidence Of Water At Moon South Pole

Mini-RF Radar On LRO Estimates Maximum Amount Of Ice Likely Inside Shackleton Crater; 5-10% Of Material In Walls Of The Permanently-Shadowed Crater Could Be Patchy Ice According To Team Led By Bradley Thomson Of Boston University; Instrument Detects Distinctive Radar Polarization Signature Of Water Ice To Depth Of 2m Below Surface; Mini-RF Currently Acquiring New Bistatic Radar Images To Locate Volatile Deposits Using Arecibo Radio Telescope 

Image Credit: NASA, bu.edu

Weekend Edition / Fri-Mon 3-6 Aug 2012

Posted on by

LRO Continues To Provide Valuable Data / Images

Now In Extended Mission, LROC has Mapped Entire Moon 33 Times, Each Map With Different Photometric Geometry; About Every Month Spacecraft Makes New Mosaics Of North & South Poles; Found Over 160 Lunar Caves With ‘Skylights’; Project Scientist Richard Vondrak Says LRO Is “Just Getting Started”; Pictured: Recent LROC Oblique View Of Giordano Bruno Crater (35.9°N 102.8°E), Download Video Of Crater Here

Image Credit: NASA

Friday / 27 July 2012

Posted on by

China Lunar Exploration Program Advancing With Chang’e-2,3,4,5

China Chief Lunar Scientist Ziyuan Ouyang Provides Update On Chang’e Program; Chang’e-2 Has Left L2 After 235 Days Of Solar Observation, Now Heading For Rendezvous With Asteroid 4179, Will Arrive To Monitor / Explore Asteroid Around 1 March 2013; Chang’e-3 Lunar Rover Will Feature Atomic Fuel Cells, Radar To Explore 100m Below Surface; Chang’e-5 Sample Return Mission To Be Launched By Long March 5 Rocket Currently Under Development

Image Credit: CLEP, CNSA, CCTV

Wednesday / 11 July 2012

Posted on by

LRO An Unprecedented Success

US$500M Spacecraft Continues To Send Back Important Data After 3 Years Of Service; LRO Camera Taken About 1M Images; Wealth Of High-Resolution Data Allowing Researchers To Map Lunar Surface At Resolution Of 50cm / Pixel; Discovered Vast Titanium & Lunar Ilmenite Fields On Moon Which Could Be Critical For Moonbase Construction; Confirmation Of Over 6B Tonnes Of Water On Lunar Surface

Image Credit: NASA

Thursday / 21 June 2012

Posted on by

LRO Measures Shackleton Crater Ice Levels

Up To 22% Ice In Shackleton Crater Surface Material According To LRO Laser Altimeter Data; LOLA Measured Albedo Of 3.2km-Deep, 19.3km-Wide Crater; New Map Shows 3B-Year-Old South Pole Crater Relatively Unscathed Since Formation, Brighter / Wetter Than Other Nearby Craters; Researchers Took Over 5M Measurements Of Permanently Shadowed Crater From Over 5K Orbital Tracks 

Image Credit: NASA

Wednesday / 13 June 2012

Posted on by

5 USA Lunar Orbiters Continue To Advance Lunar Science

Twin ARTEMIS Crafts Reveal Unexpected Influence Of Complex Lunar Electric & Magnetic Fields On Solar Wind; NASA / GSFC Issues Sole-Source RFP To UCLA For Continuation Of Instrument / Science  Management Of LRO Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment From March 2013 – March 2015; GRAIL Crafts Ebb & Flow Preparing For Extended Science Operations 30 Aug – 3 Dec 2012

Image Credit: NASA

Weekend Edition / Saturday – Monday 9-11 June 2012

Posted on by

Successful GRAIL Spacecraft Preparing For Extended Science Operations

Now In Hibernation, Ebb & Flow Survived Recent Lunar Eclipse; Extended Mission To Run From 30 Aug – 3 Dec; Spacecraft Performed Flawlessly During Primary Mission; GRAIL Will Halve Operating Altitude To 23km During Next Phase To Obtain Even Closer Look At Moon Gravity Field; MoonKAM Program Also Extended, Over 70,000 Student Images Have Thus Far Been Obtained

Image Credit: NASA