LRO Could Have Given Apollo 14 Crew Another Majestic View

Although the Apollo 14 mission to the moon was filled with incredible sights and was completely successful it met all its science goals the crew experienced a bit of a disappointment at missing the spectacular view from the rim of a 1,000-foot-wide crater. They might have gazed into its depths if they had the high-resolution maps now available from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft.

Pressure was on the Apollo 14 mission, launched January 31, 1971, from the start. The Apollo 13 landing had to be aborted because an oxygen tank explosion crippled the spacecraft as it was on its way to the moon. It was a heroic effort just to return the crew safely to Earth, but the Apollo 14 team knew a second failure would probably result in cancellation of the remaining Apollo missions.

ISRO Announces Instruments for Second Lunar Mission

Officials at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) finally announced the instruments and tool suites that will go aboard its next lunar mission, called the Chandrayaan-2.

For the past few years, India has been playing an increasingly important role in space exploration, developing a number of missions alongside other space agencies, or on its own.

One of the most important missions that the ISRO developed was the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, which managed to achieve lunar orbit, and conduct observations from its vantage point.

The mission eventually ended in failure, after contact with the orbiter was lost, but to the Indians this was a monumental achievement. Now, they want to continue in the footsteps of the first mission.

The Chandrayaan-2 is a more complex plan, which calls for the construction of both a rover and a lander, all of which are to be finished by 2013.

ISRO officials said yesterday that they expect the mission to launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, in Sriharikota, aboard an Indian-built Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

The lander itself will be built by the Russian Federation, under an agreement between the two parties. At this point, only the basic instrumentation for both mission components has been approved.

Experts believe that other equipment may be selected for integration aboard the Chandrayaan-2 mission as well, but that will be decided upon in technical review that will take place further along the mission time line.

Some of the instruments and suites experts recommend for the orbiter include the Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) and the Solar X-ray monitor (XSM).

Both of these payloads are meant to give the orbiter the ability to map out the most interesting elements of the lunar surface in great detail.

Other instrument suites include an L and S band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), an Imaging IR Spectrometer (IIRS), a Neutral Mass Spectrometer (ChACE-2), and a Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2).

As far as the experts are concerned, the orbiter could include only two scientific payloads. One of them could be the Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS)- built Laser induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS).

The second one could be that Alpha Particle Induced X-ray Spectroscope (APIXS), an instrument designed and built by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), SpaceRef reports.

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Backpack, Communications Network Face Desert Test

Science experiments don't always involve bubbling beakers and people dressed in lab coats and goggles. In the case of NASA's Desert RATS project, an experiment can look like a plastic box bolted to a backpack frame and be carried around the Arizona desert for a month.

Inside the plastic box is a host of off-the-shelf electronics capable of telling the backpacker where he is, letting him talk to distant colleagues and beaming pictures of notable objects to geologists and other scientists.

"The backpack tells you where you are, where you were and it allows you to communicate and share your experience with someone in a different location," said Marc Seibert, a senior research engineer at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. "This backpack has been dreamed about for 10 years."

The backpack is an important part of Kennedy's role in the Desert Research and Technology Studies project, which is set up as a large-scale experiment to find out what equipment and operations scenarios NASA needs to explore the surface of an alien world, such as an asteroid, the moon or Mars.

A team of astronauts, scientists and engineers from several NASA centers head to Arizona's desert each year to simulate the unique environment of space explorers. The effort is meant to test equipment and people to find out the best way to explore another world.

Kennedy's engineers develop the communications, navigation and data transmission networks needed, a task that includes a semitrailer set up as a mission operations center, a command vehicle, a specialized RV, a pair of Humvees plus enough communications gear to set up a wireless network for a small crew of explorers to talk back to "Earth" like they will from other planets.

Equipment from other centers, such as a pair of large rovers, has to work on the same communications network. The rovers, for example, relay the signals from the backpacks to the mission operations center.

Although the area they test in is not a perfect stand-in for the moon or Mars in terms of having breathable air and normal gravity, the site does a pretty good job of isolating the participants, said Mike Miller, communications research engineer at Kennedy.

"We have to take everything to the site, just like we will to other planet surfaces," Miller said.

The research program began 13 years ago, and grows in complexity with each annual run. The 2010 program is focused largely on seeing how effectively astronauts can explore a foreign surface under different communications scenarios and rover modes of operation. It also will put pressure on the scientists to have daily plans ready when the explorers awake each day. That means long nights of studying the day's findings to find out what should be done the next.

"This is probably the highest fidelity lunar simulation that's ever been done," Seibert said.

The backpack carries a pair of cameras, a GPS antenna to pinpoint location and all the electronics needed to store then transmit information. The person wearing the backpack controls its systems using an electronic wrist display, supplied by NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio, that is generations ahead of the flip cards Apollo astronauts used during the first trips to the moon. Researchers will also test an iPod Touch from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Image above: Mike Miller demonstrates one of the backpacks his team designed and built for the Desert Research and Technology Studies project's upcoming field test in Arizona. Miller led the team that developed the backpacks. The backpacks are equipped with GPS antennas, communications components and cameras. They are meant to show researchers what an astronaut might need to explore an alien world and give designers a look at the hardships the equipment could encounter. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

Right now, the backpack and its host of attached gear only has to stand up to the winds and heat of a desert on Earth.

"Environment is a big thing out there," Miller said. "The winds are very high, it gets very hot. We are pretty much out in the middle of nowhere."

Designers don't have to worry just yet about the life support systems that would be required for any astronaut working on another world. The life support functions will be incorporated into the backpacks as they evolve and improve. Other parts of the backpack design will be incorporated into the rover so the astronauts can quickly leave the vehicle for a spacewalk.

Miller said the month-long exercise should show them whether the design works technically and what can be improved.

Image above: Isaac Hutson assembles components at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for one of the backpacks that will be tested during the Desert Research and Technology Studies project's upcoming field test in Arizona. The backpacks are equipped with GPS antennas, communications components and cameras. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

"Success would be to have all the systems up and working, for the scientists to get the science data and the test team to meet their objectives," Miller said.

Miller and his team were given the backpack assignment only a couple months before the equipment had to be assembled and shipped out.

"We only had two to three months here for everything, the design and building, getting the parts, everything," Miller said as others on his team put the finishing touches on a couple of backpacks.

With the short time frame, Miller said his group worked with Glenn partners and with off-the-shelf equipment to get the job done. The software for the controls was written from scratch to make the gear work with each other and operate to their needs.

"The whole communications infrastructure has been upgraded this year," Miller said.

The biggest challenge, he said, was keeping the weight down since the individual components could not be made from scratch by Miller's team.

Between excursions, the Desert RATS participants catalog what they've learned and look at ways to incorporate changes for the next one, along with passing on changes to other in-depth research programs NASA runs.

The backpack's capabilities are designed with space exploration in mind, but the arrangement may have applications for earthbound explorers, too. Basically, a geologist or other explorer could make a solo trek with the backpack and, on his return, play back the whole trip or selected highlights for those who weren't on the journey.

"Any explorer could use this backpack," Seibert said.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/moonandmars/desert_rats_backpack.html

All-American Salute

Astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the United States flag at the Descartes landing site during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity. Astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot, took this picture. The Lunar Module "Orion" is on the left. The Lunar Roving Vehicle is parked beside Orion and the object behind Young (in the shadow of the Lunar Module) is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph. Stone Mountain dominates the background of this lunar scene.

Image Credit: NASA

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1704.html

Mare Tranquillitatis

The Sea of Tranquility has long captivated astronomers. Once thought to be an ocean on the Moon, its relatively smooth fields of basaltic lavas and equatorial position made it an ideal location for the first manned lunar landing. On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left the first human footprints on the Moon near the southwestern shores of Mare Tranquillitatis.

Image credit: NASA/Goddard

Mare Tranquillitatis (approximately 873 km in diameter) lies in the Tranquillitatis basin (centered on 0.68 N, 23.43 E; extending, roughly, from 20.4 N-4.4 S, 15.0-45.9 E). This basin is thought to have been formed as a result of a very large impact in the Moon's early history, likely more than 3.9 million years ago. The crater was then flooded with mare basalts, making it appear dark when viewed from Earth, and making it smooth and relatively flat, as seen in LOLA data. There is only a little over a 500 m elevation difference between the highest and lowest points within the mare, excluding overprinted craters. The mare has an irregular margin because several basins, including Serenitatis and Nectaris, intersect in this region. See if you can find other features surrounding Mare Tranquillitatis on a map of the Moon.

For other information and exploration news, check out one of Science@NASA's Apollo Chronicles featuring Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's experience in the Sea of Tranquility, the featured LROC images of a wrinkle ridge in the Mare Tranquillitatis Constellation Region of Interest, and the Apollo landing sites.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lola-20100528-maretranquillitatis.html

Wrinkle Ridges in Mare Tranquilitatis

Lunar wrinkle ridges can be hundreds of kilometers long, tens of kilometers wide, and hundreds of meters high. Read more in Wilhelms, 1987. They can have a sinuous or linear appearance with asymmetric cross-sections. In other words, the feature that you see could easily be made up of a smaller ridge superposed on a broad rise.

Close up of a northwest trending wrinkle ridge in the high-Ti basaltic lava plains of Mare Tranquillitatis. The bright areas along the steepest parts of the ridge are places where less mature subsurface materials have been exposed by small impacts or fracturing of the bedrock as the original mare surface buckled. Image is 1.25 km wide Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.

Lunar wrinkle ridges are found in the mare basalt deposits that filled the giant impact basins on the Moon. Frequently, wrinkle ridges are oriented concentric to large impact basins. Loading of the basin floor with multiple eruptions of mare basalts causes the formation of wrinkle ridges in the basin center and graben, or trenches, along the mare margins (see below). The tremendous weight of the newer basalt layers then causes the center of the basin to sag. As the basin center sags, the basalts slide inward, causing compression that results in folding and faulting of the basalt. The sagging of the basin under the weight of the basalt also causes the opening of graben along the edges of the basalt layers.

Long wrinkle ridges in Mare Tranquillitatis in LRO Wide Angle Camera (WAC) image M117345275M. The section of wrinkle ridge shown in the top image is in the center of this WAC view. Arago crater (lower left), is 26 km in diameter. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University.

Idealized cross-section through an impact basin that filled with three episodes of mare basalt eruptions. Loading of the basin floor with mare basalts causes the formation of wrinkle ridges in the basin center and graben along the mare margins. Credit: Hiesinger, 1999, PhD dissertation

We also know, thanks to the samples collected by the Apollo 11 astronauts, that the mare basalts in this region are rich in titanium. Study of the Apollo samples has shown it is relatively straightforward to extract resources (especially oxygen) from titanium-rich lunar soils.

More information can be found about LRO at:
› http://www.nasa.gov/lro

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100428-tranquilitatis.html

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Lunar Polar Craters May Be Electrified

As the solar wind flows over natural obstructions on the moon, it may charge polar lunar craters to hundreds of volts, according to new calculations by NASA’s Lunar Science Institute team.

Polar lunar craters are of interest because of resources, including water ice, which exist there. The moon’s orientation to the sun keeps the bottoms of polar craters in permanent shadow, allowing temperatures there to plunge below minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit, cold enough to store volatile material like water for billions of years. "However, our research suggests that, in addition to the wicked cold, explorers and robots at the bottoms of polar lunar craters may have to contend with a complex electrical environment as well, which can affect surface chemistry, static discharge, and dust cling," said William Farrell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Farrell is lead author of a paper on this research published March 24 in the Journal of Geophysical Research. The research is part of the Lunar Science Institute’s Dynamic Response of the Environment at the moon (DREAM) project.

"This important work by Dr. Farrell and his team is further evidence that our view on the moon has changed dramatically in recent years," said Gregory Schmidt, deputy director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. "It has a dynamic and fascinating environment that we are only beginning to understand."

Solar wind inflow into craters can erode the surface, which affects recently discovered water molecules. Static discharge could short out sensitive equipment, while the sticky and extremely abrasive lunar dust could wear out spacesuits and may be hazardous if tracked inside spacecraft and inhaled over long periods.

New research from NASA's Lunar Science Institute indicates that the solar wind may be charging certain regions at the lunar poles to hundreds of volts. In this short video Dr. Bill Farrell discusses this research and what it means for future exploration of the moon's poles. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The solar wind is a thin gas of electrically charged components of atoms -- negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions -- that is constantly blowing from the surface of the sun into space. Since the moon is only slightly tilted compared to the sun, the solar wind flows almost horizontally over the lunar surface at the poles and along the region where day transitions to night, called the terminator.

The researchers created computer simulations to discover what happens when the solar wind flows over the rims of polar craters. They discovered that in some ways, the solar wind behaves like wind on Earth -- flowing into deep polar valleys and crater floors. Unlike wind on Earth, the dual electron-ion composition of the solar wind may create an unusual electric charge on the side of the mountain or crater wall; that is, on the inside of the rim directly below the solar wind flow.

Since electrons are over 1,000 times lighter than ions, the lighter electrons in the solar wind rush into a lunar crater or valley ahead of the heavy ions, creating a negatively charged region inside the crater. The ions eventually catch up, but rain into the crater at consistently lower concentrations than that of the electrons. This imbalance in the crater makes the inside walls and floor acquire a negative electric charge. The calculations reveal that the electron/ion separation effect is most extreme on a crater's leeward edge – along the inside crater wall and at the crater floor nearest the solar wind flow. Along this inner edge, the heavy ions have the greatest difficulty getting to the surface. Compared to the electrons, they act like a tractor-trailer struggling to follow a motorcycle; they just can’t make as sharp a turn over the mountain top as the electrons. "The electrons build up an electron cloud on this leeward edge of the crater wall and floor, which can create an unusually large negative charge of a few hundred Volts relative to the dense solar wind flowing over the top," says Farrell.

The negative charge along this leeward edge won’t build up indefinitely. Eventually, the attraction between the negatively charged region and positive ions in the solar wind will cause some other unusual electric current to flow. The team believes one possible source for this current could be negatively charged dust that is repelled by the negatively charged surface, gets levitated and flows away from this highly charged region. "The Apollo astronauts in the orbiting Command Module saw faint rays on the lunar horizon during sunrise that might have been scattered light from electrically lofted dust," said Farrell. "Additionally, the Apollo 17 mission landed at a site similar to a crater environment – the Taurus-Littrow valley. The Lunar Ejecta and Meteorite Experiment left by the Apollo 17 astronauts detected impacts from dust at terminator crossings where the solar wind is nearly-horizontal flowing, similar to the situation over polar craters."

Next steps for the team include more complex computer models. "We want to develop a fully three-dimensional model to examine the effects of solar wind expansion around the edges of a mountain. We now examine the vertical expansion, but we want to also know what happens horizontally," said Farrell. As early as 2012, NASA will launch the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission that will orbit the moon and could look for the dust flows predicted by the team’s research.

This work was enabled by support from NASA Goddard’s Internal Research and Development program and NASA’s Lunar Science Institute. The team includes researchers from NASA Goddard, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/electric-craters.html

President Outlines Exploration Goals, Promise

Astronauts will soar spaceward in commercial spacecraft while NASA develops technology so humans can venture to Mars and out into the solar system, President Barack Obama told a space conference Thursday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Laying out his plans, President Obama committed NASA to a series of development milestones he said would lead to new spacecraft for astronauts to ride to the International Space Station, a modified Orion capsule developed as an emergency return spacecraft, and a powerful new rocket. He also promised a host of new technologies that would protect space travelers from radiation and other unique hazards.

"Early in the next decade, a set of crewed flights will test and prove the systems required for exploration beyond low Earth orbit," the president said. "And by 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the moon into deep space. We’ll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history. By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it."

The president spoke to 200 senior officials, space and industry leaders, and academic experts inside the Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy in the same area that was used to process Apollo spacecraft for the missions to the moon in the 1960s and 70s.

Standing in front of one of the space shuttle main engines that launched former U.S. Senator and astronaut John Glenn into orbit, President Obama said, "It was from here that men and women, propelled by sheer nerve and talent, set about pushing the boundaries of humanity's reach.

President Barack Obama discusses his plans and ambitions for NASA during an address at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

"The question for us now is whether that was the beginning of something, or the end of something. I prefer to believe it was the beginning of something."

The president's fiscal year 2011 budget proposal increases NASA's budget by $6 billion throughout the next five years to fund the plans.

Noting "the sense that folks in Washington -- driven less by vision than by politics -- have for years neglected NASA’s mission and undermined the work of the professionals who fulfill it," the president said the budget increase changes that.

The president's address comes at a critical juncture for NASA because the space shuttle fleet is scheduled to be retired after three more missions. The president said it will be quicker and less costly to let private companies develop new spacecraft for astronauts rather than continue with NASA's Constellation Program, which was deemed too expensive and behind schedule.

"Pursuing this new strategy will require that we revise the old strategy. In part, this is because the old strategy -- including the Constellation Program -- was not fulfilling its promise in many ways," the president said. "That’s not just my assessment; that’s also the assessment of a panel of respected non-partisan experts charged with looking at these issues closely."

President Obama's plan largely mirrors the "flexible path" option offered by a blue-ribbon panel established by the president last year to help decide the best map for future space exploration.

The outline does not do away with all the research and development from Constellation . Noting the success of the agency's development of the Orion crew capsule, Obama called on NASA to develop a version of that spacecraft so it can be launched without a crew to the International Space Station. It will be based there as an emergency craft for astronauts living on the orbiting laboratory.

The speech kicked off the Conference on the American Space Program for the 21st Century.

Norm Augustine, chairman of the blue-ribbon panel called the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, that evaluated Constellation and came up with the "flexible path" option, endorsed the presidential strategy as the conference got under way.

Saying NASA is largely "trapped" in low Earth orbit, Augustine said industry, with NASA's guidance, can do its part for the plan.

The president acknowledged the need to get the decision right.

"Now, the challenges facing our space program are different, and our imperatives for this program are different than in decades past," the president said. "But while the measure of our achievements has changed a great deal over the past fifty years, what we do -- or fail to do -- in seeking new frontiers is no less consequential for our future in space and here on Earth."

The plan, the president said, would free NASA's designers and engineers to develop spacecraft, large rockets and new technologies that can extend the frontier of human space exploration to asteroids and even Mars.

About $3.1 billion of the additional funding would go into research and development for a heavy-lift rocket. A design for a large booster would be chosen in 2015 with the goal of launching the spacecraft a few years later. The bigger rocket could be used to loft payloads too large for most boosters, including giant fuel depots that would be parked in distant orbits so spacecraft could refuel on their way to asteroids, the moons of Mars and eventually Mars itself.

In addition to more funding, President Obama said his initiative brings more jobs than previous schedules.

"My plan will add more than 2,500 jobs along the Space Coast in the next two years compared to the plan under the previous administration," he said. "I’m proposing a $40 million initiative led by a high-level team from the White House, NASA, and other agencies to develop a plan for regional economic growth and job creation. And I expect this plan to reach my desk by Aug. 15. It’s an effort that will help prepare this already skilled work force for new opportunities in the space industry and beyond."

Taken together, the space strategy proves America is poised for a future as bright as its remarkable past, the president said.

"Fifty years after the creation of NASA, our goal is no longer just a destination to reach," Obama said. "Our goal is the capacity for people to work and learn, and operate and live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite. And in fulfilling this task, we will not only extend humanity’s reach in space -- we will strengthen America’s leadership here on Earth."

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/2010ciaa.html

Alphonsus Crater Mantled Floor Fracture

Many fractures on the Moon are seen in the floors of ancient, flat-floored highlands craters. Such fracture networks often encircle all or part of the crater floor, and in some areas they show accumulated deposits of dark volcanic material. This NAC image below (538 m across) shows a portion of one such fracture, located in the northeastern floor of Alphonsus crater.

LROC NAC closeup of a fracture in the floor of Alphonsus crater. Dark pyroclastic materials are intermixed with lighter rocks and boulders from the fracture walls and all appear to have moved in streamers toward the fracture floor at upper right. A NASA region of interest site is centered just to the southeast of this view. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The fracture has been mantled by a dark, fine-grained pyroclastic deposit that appears to have moved down the wall of the fracture (at left) toward the floor (out of view to the upper right). The wall of the fracture is composed of light-colored rocks that are typical of the lunar highlands (mostly composed of anorthosite). Rocks and boulders of this bright material have also moved down the fracture wall; the largest one (near the top, center of the image) is about 8 meters across in its longest dimension. In some areas near the top of the fracture wall, dark boulders and mantling materials are seen. It is likely that this dark volcanic material came from a nearby volcanic vent located along this fracture network.

LROC Wide Angle Camera image M117507741, centered on Alphonsus crater. Approximate position of the Featured Image is highlighted with arrow. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Pyroclastic deposits such as those observed in Alphonsus crater are formed by violently explosive eruptions of basaltic magma and may have formed in conjunction with massive outpourings of surface lava flows to the west in nearby Mare Nubium. According to Harry Hiesinger and others (2003), the mare deposits in Mare Nubium are ancient, about 3.2 to 3.5 billion years old. If Alphonsus pyroclastic deposits and Mare Nubium were indeed related, then it is likely that the Alphonsus pyroclastic deposits are about the same age. The Alphonsus pyroclastic deposits are sometimes associated with low cones that have symmetric dark 'haloes'; these cones resemble cinder cones or small volcanoes on Earth.

Sunset Crater National Monument in Flagstaff, Arizona. The cone is about 600 m wide and 340 m high. Credit: USGS/NPS

In part because of these fascinating volcanoes in the floor of Alphonsus, this area was considered as a possible landing site for the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 missions. The Ranger 9 spacecraft impacted in Alphonsus to the northeast of the central peak. Scientific interest in this crater remains high, and so Alphonsus is a high-priority target for future expeditions to the Moon.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20100406-alphonsus.html

Student Teams Ready to Battle Lunar Terrain at NASA's 17th Annual Great Moonbuggy Race

WASHINGTON -- More than 100 student teams from around the globe will drive their specially crafted lunar rovers through a challenging course of rugged, moon-like terrain at NASA's 17th annual Great Moonbuggy Race in Huntsville, Ala., April 9-10.

Some 1,088 high school, college and university students from 20 states and Puerto Rico, Canada, Germany, Bangladesh, Serbia, India and Romania are expected to participate in the race at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.

Students begin to prepare for the event each year during the fall semester. They must design, build and test a sturdy, collapsible, lightweight vehicle that addresses engineering problems similar to those overcome by the original Apollo-era lunar rover development team at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville in the late 1960s.

The buggies are based on the design of those classic rovers, which American astronauts drove across the moon's surface during the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions in the early 1970s. Teams of students build their vehicles using trail bike tires, aluminum or composite-metal struts and parts. The best teams drive trains, gears, suspension, steering and braking systems they find or construct.

Top prizes are awarded to the three teams in both the high school and college/university divisions that post the fastest race times, which include assembly and penalty times.

A variety of other prizes are given by race corporate sponsors. These include "rookie of the year" and the "featherweight" award, presented to the team with the lightest, fastest buggy.

NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race is one of many educational projects and initiatives the agency conducts each year to attract and engage America's next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers. They will carry on the nation's mission of exploration to unchartered destinations in our solar system.

"NASA is committed to inspiring young people in science, technology, engineering and math, and the Great Moonbuggy Race is an excellent way for us to reach out to young people and get them excited and involved in technical opportunities available to them," said Mike Selby, an avionics technical assistant in the Marshall Center's Engineering Directorate. While completing his engineering degree at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Selby was a member of the school's moonbuggy teams, helping them to a second-place finish in 1995 and to first place in 1996. Since 2001, he has served each year as a volunteer scorekeeper.

The race is hosted by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and is sponsored by Lockheed Martin Corporation, The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Jacobs Engineering ESTS Group, all of Huntsville.

For a list of this year's competitors, visit:

http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov/email.html

For more information about the competition, visit:

http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov

For information about other NASA education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

X-15 Pilot Robert White Dies

On July 17, 1962, Major Robert White flew the X-15 to an altitude of 314,750 feet, or 59 miles, becoming the first "winged astronaut." He was the first to fly at Mach 4, Mach 5 and Mach 6; he was the first to fly a winged vehicle into space. After a career of 'firsts' White died on March 17, 2010.

White was one of the initial pilots selected for the X-15 program, representing the Air Force in the joint program with NASA, the Navy, and North American Aviation. Between April 13, 1960, and Dec. 14, 1962, he made 16 flights in the rocket-powered aircraft.

His July 17, 1962, flight to an altitude of 314,750 feet set a world record. This was 59.6 miles, significantly higher than the 50 miles the Air Force accepted as the beginning of space, qualifying White for astronaut wings. The X-15 rocket-powered aircraft were built by North American Aviation and developed to provide in-flight information and data on aerodynamics, structures, flight controls and the physiological aspects of high-speed, high-altitude flight.

X-15 with test pilot Major Robert M. White. Credit: NASA.

A follow-on program used the aircraft as testbeds to carry various scientific experiments beyond the Earth's atmosphere on a repeated basis. Information gained from the highly successful X-15 program contributed to the development of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned spaceflight programs, and also the space shuttle program. The X-15s made a total of 199 flights and the first aircraft X-15-1, serial number 56-6670, is now located at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

According to an article by Al Hallonquist, White's achievements as an X-15 pilot "allowed him to become the fifth American to attain astronaut wings and only the second Air Force pilot to do this."

White retired from the Air Force as a Major General.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/robert-white.html

Soviet Union Lunar Sample Return Missions

The Soviet Union successfully executed three robotic sample return missions as part of the Cold War competition with the United States. The first mission, Luna 16, returned a small sample (101 grams) from Mare Fecunditatis in September of 1970, a time between the US Apollo 12 and 14 manned landings. A year and half later (February 1972) Luna 20 returned 55 grams of soil from the Apollonius highlands region.

On Feb. 21, 1972, Luna 20 soft landed in the rugged highlands between Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Crisium. The next day a sample return capsule blasted off carrying 55 grams of lunar soil. The Luna 20 descent stage still sits silently on the Moon, clearly visible in LROC NAC image M119482862RE. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Luna 16 and 20 were very similar in design and sampling method. A drill at the end of the sampling arm collected soil from a few tens of cm below the surface. The arm then placed the sample into the return capsule on top of the vehicle. The distinctive shadow seen in the LROC image of Luna 20 is most likely that of the sampling arm. The Luna 20 sample contained minerals similar to those sampled by the US Apollo 16 astronauts two months later from the Cayley plains (8°58"S, 15°30"E).

Luna 16 robotic sample return spacecraft. Image courtesy National Space Science Data Center.

Enlargement of Luna 20 descent stage. Note the shadow of the sampling arm. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

In October of 1974 Luna 23 set down on Mare Crisium, however technical difficulties prevented it from successfully acquiring a sample. Undeterred, the Soviets tried again in August of 1976, this time with much better luck. Luna 24 was designed to auger over 2 meters into the lunar soil thus collecting a better section and a larger sample, 170 grams. The positions of Luna 23 and 24 were not well constrained and are reported as within several hundred meters of each other. From the new NAC images we can accurately measure the distance between the two landers to be about 2400 meters. However the absolute position of the landers is only know to about 500 meters accuracy. As the LRO mission ephemeris improves, the Luna absolute positions should be known to better than 100 meters. Scroll around in a mosaic of two NAC high Sun images (M111185087L,R) and find Luna 23 and Luna 24. Look for a few very bright pixels near Luna 24; they may be small pieces of material blown off the descent stage as the ascent staged blasted off towards Earth.

Luna 24 sitting on the edge of a 60 meter diameter crater, NAC image M119449091RE. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

The successful Soviet Luna sample return missions returned small, but important, samples from three locations on the Moon. In this new era of lunar exploration several countries plan to soft land on the Moon in the near future, the first soft-landed spacecraft since Luna 24. India and Russia plan to launch a lander and rover called Chandrayaan 2 in 2013. The Chinese Chang'e lunar exploration program also plans a soft landing in 2013.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20100316-luna.html

Digital Elevation Models of the Moon

Robotic exploration missions provide NASA vast amounts of data to prepare for future human exploration missions and learn more about the universe.

Objective: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is working with NASA to make lunar maps. Digital elevation models (DEMs) will be used to map terrain, locate lunar resources and assess prospective landing sites.

Description: The USGS constructed this DEM of a 50x80 km area of the Aristarchus Plateau, including the “Cobra Head.” Using Apollo Panoramic Camera images, the elevation of each lunar feature is calculated to an accuracy of 0.75 to 1.2 m.

Timeframe: The new Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project (LMMP) Web site, available in late fall 2010, will build integrated data sets from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and other lunar missions over the next two years. The USGS generated maps will be available on that Web site.

Application: An integrated, easy-to-use Web site allows easy access to current lunar data and can be used by any scientist, student or lunar explorer.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/multimedia/highlights/2010-09B.html

NASA Announces Partnership with Texas Instruments

NASA and Texas Instruments (TI) announced a new partnership between TI and NASA's Human Research Program Education Outreach (HRPEO) project at the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) conference held in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.

The kick-off event for the partnership between HRPEO and TI was a workshop held by HRPEO personnel at Johnson Space Center (JSC). The focus of this collaboration is to develop and implement new, supplementary educational content using real-world NASA applications and the excitement of space exploration to enhance the latest technology and expertise that is uniquely TI.

After being inspired by a special tour of the Mission Control Centers for the space shuttle, ISS and Apollo programs, the T³ instructors were tasked with creating new versions of the HRPEO Exploring Space Through Math and Math and Science @ Work problems, incorporating the latest TI technology. HRPEO content from this collaboration will be posted on the TI Activities Exchange, a popular feature of the TI website where teachers can find activities posted by subject for their classrooms.

TI Education Manager and Master Instructors pose for a picture before touring the mission control centers at NASA Johnson Space Center.

The T³ instructors and HRPEO project leads will make presentations at the T³ International Conference in Atlanta in March. While attending they will continue collaborating on new problems and planning a week-long summer content development effort at JSC this June.

The professional development division of TI, called "Teachers Teaching with Technology™" or T³ for short, has a rich history of providing high-quality professional development for teachers who want to integrate educational technology into their curricula. These instructors give presentations to math and science teachers nationwide using the TI technology. This national exposure will help HRPEO broaden the reach of the projects as well as effect students through T³ Instructors.

The Group receives instruction on Apollo Mission Control Center from Flight Controller.

The HRPEO project, Exploring Space Through Math, focuses on Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and Precalculus, while the Math and Science @ Work project focuses on AP courses in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Calculus and Statistics. These projects provide supplemental educational materials designed to help students understand real-world applications of these courses. This type of education is referred to as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM.

The Group receives instruction on Apollo Mission Control Center from Flight Controller.

Also of note, TI has a new handheld technology called the TI-Nspire. The T³ Instructors are creating Nspire versions of the existing problems. Since many schools have graphing calculators (TI-84’s or older versions) in their classrooms and some schools have the newer Nspire handhelds, both versions will be implemented. This will provide a wider audience for these high school STEM materials.

To find out more, visit:
› http://humanresearch.jsc.nasa.gov/education.asp
› http://www.education.ti.com

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/humanresearch/education/nasa_ti.html

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Space Rocks! Moon and Mt. Everest Rocks Find a Home in Orbit

Moon rocks, collected during the historic Apollo 11 mission, will find a new residence aboard the International Space Station alongside a piece of Mt. Everest.

On May 20, 2009, during his second attempt to reach the highest point on Earth’s continental crust, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski successfully carried the moon rocks with him to the summit of Mt. Everest. Part of the Himalaya range in Asia, Mt. Everest is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal and Tibet, China - a perilous journey for Parazynski and his team.

Parazynski collected a rock from the summit of Mt. Everest to accompany the lunar samples on their journey back to space.

Former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski (left) presents STS-130 Commander George Zamka (right) with a plaque containing moon rocks collected during the Apollo 11 mission and a rock from the summit of Mt. Everest. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the ISS during the STS-130 mission. Photo Credit: NASA

On Jan. 6, at Space Center Houston, Parazynski presented the rocks to NASA astronaut and STS-130 Commander George Zamka during a special ceremony. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the space station during Space Shuttle Endeavour's mission where they will reside in the Tranquility module, also being delivered to the station by the crew.

Fittingly, the moon rocks were originally collected by former NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong from the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface more than four decades ago.

After being presented with the moon and Earth rocks, Zamka expressed the significance of the event.

“These rocks have already done more than a human being can do in a lifetime,” Zamka said. “For 4 million years they were on the moon undisturbed. They got on a spaceship, traveled to Earth, went up to Mt. Everest. So in a way they have tremendous history, and now they’re going to travel 17,500 mph back to space, where they will reside in the cupola of the Tranquility node.”

Upon reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski stops for a photo with the Apollo 11 moon rocks he carried along for the trek. Parazynski reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 20, 2009. Photo Credit: Danuru Sherpa

Zamka said the rocks will be a reminder to the astronauts on the space station about “what human beings can do and what our challenges are. So this is a tremendous opportunity.”

During the presentation, Parazynski gave a narration of his journey to the top of Mt. Everest. He explained that a part of his motivation to carry along the lunar samples was pride to have been “born in this great country of ours and growing up in the shadows of many heroes, such as John Glenn, Jacques Cousteau, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin,” among others.

Plaque containing rock collected from the summit of Mt. Everest (left) and moon rocks collected during the Apollo 11 mission (right). Photo Credit: NASA

“These are the folks who I really looked up to as a kid,” Parazynski said. “It’s great to grow up in a country where you can walk in the paths of these types of people. One of the things I like to do is to honor them and pay tribute to them, and that is why I took a sample of the moon with me to Mt. Everest.”

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts130/moon_everest_rocks.html

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Crater Wall in Van de Graaff C

Wall and rim of a ~20 km diameter crater within the ~240 km diameter Van de Graaff crater, which is one of the Constellation regions of interest. Located on the lunar far side, Van de Graaff crater is south of Aitken crater on the outer edge of the South-Pole Aitken basin. Van de Graaff exhibits an unusual figure-eight shape, ~240 x 140 km, in a region with "swirls", magnetic anomalies, and geochemical anomalies. Swirls on the Moon are high-reflectance, irregularly-shaped markings with gradational boundaries, and they are associated with poorly understood magnetic anomalies (weak by terrestrial magnetism standards).

Magnetic fields like the one near Van de Graaff are relatively unusual for the Moon, because the Moon does not currently have a global magnetic field like the Earth does. Orbital geochemistry measurements show that Van de Graaff and the surrounding terrain have slightly higher concentrations of thorium, which suggests the presence of a geochemically important thorium-rich lunar material called KREEP. Van de Graaff is on the opposite side of the Moon from the massive Imbrium basin, suggesting that perhaps the magnetic and geochemical anomalies are related to the gigantic Imbrium impact event. Or, on the other hand, the anomalies could represent the products of local geologic events. Lunar scientists won't know for sure until we can send human explorers to investigate the region.

Wall of crater Van de Graaff C, where brighter material is exposed by more active processes associated with steeper slopes, recent small craters, and even individual rolling boulders. NAC image 112822306, image width 0.68 km. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.

Also of particular note in the steep crater walls are higher-reflectance areas. The elevated reflectance is the result of disturbing the regolith (soil) through geologic mechanisms including recent impacts, mass wasting, and by rolling boulders that leave trails. During these events, material from rocks from beneath the surface are exposed. The lunar regolith is typically very fine-grained and is profoundly affected by exposure to the vacuum of space. Over time, radiation and micrometeorite bombardment lower the reflectivity and alter the chemistry of the surface. The high-reflectance, unaltered material exposed at the surface stands out in contrast to the lower-reflectance, older, altered surface.

Explore this fascinating Constellation region of interest for yourself, and check out an Apollo metric orbital photograph of the region!

Related Links

› Arizona State University's Web site for the LRO Camera
› More images from Arizona State University's LROC site


NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-201000212-vandegraaff.html

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NASA, GM Take Giant Leap in Robotic Technology

Robonaut is evolving.

NASA and General Motors are working together to accelerate development of the next generation of robots and related technologies for use in the automotive and aerospace industries.

Engineers and scientists from NASA and GM worked together through a Space Act Agreement at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston to build a new humanoid robot capable of working side by side with people. Using leading edge control, sensor and vision technologies, future robots could assist astronauts during hazardous space missions and help GM build safer cars and plants.

The two organizations, with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, developed and built the next iteration of Robonaut. Robonaut 2, or R2, is a faster, more dexterous and more technologically advanced robot. This new generation robot can use its hands to do work beyond the scope of prior humanoid machines. R2 can work safely alongside people, a necessity both on Earth and in space.

Robonaut2 – or R2 for short – is the next generation dexterous robot, developed through a Space Act Agreement by NASA and General Motors. Credit: NASA.

"This cutting-edge robotics technology holds great promise, not only for NASA, but also for the nation," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "I'm very excited about the new opportunities for human and robotic exploration these versatile robots provide across a wide range of applications."

"For GM, this is about safer cars and safer plants," said Alan Taub, GM's vice president for global research and development. "When it comes to future vehicles, the advancements in controls, sensors and vision technology can be used to develop advanced vehicle safety systems. The partnership's vision is to explore advanced robots working together in harmony with people, building better, higher quality vehicles in a safer, more competitive manufacturing environment."

NASA and General Motors have come together to develop the next generation dexterous humanoid robot. The robots – called Robonaut2 – were designed to use the same tools as humans, which allows them to work safely side-by-side humans on Earth and in space. Credit: NASA.

The idea of using dexterous, human-like robots capable of using their hands to do intricate work is not new to the aerospace industry. The original Robonaut, a humanoid robot designed for space travel, was built by the software, robotics and simulation division at Johnson in a collaborative effort with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency 10 years ago. During the past decade, NASA gained significant expertise in building robotic technologies for space applications. These capabilities will help NASA launch a bold new era of space exploration.

"Our challenge today is to build machines that can help humans work and explore in space," said Mike Coats, Johnson's center director. "Working side by side with humans, or going where the risks are too great for people, machines like Robonaut will expand our capability for construction and discovery."

NASA and GM have a long, rich history of partnering on key technologies, starting in the 1960s with the development of the navigation systems for the Apollo missions. GM also played a vital role in the development of the Lunar Rover Vehicle, the first vehicle to be used on the moon.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/robonaut.html

Plato Crater Region of Interest

Plato is a large (109 km (67.7 mi) diameter) mare filled crater seen prominently in the northern near side of the Moon. This region of interest is located on the northeast portion of Plato's ejecta blanket (Figure 1).

The region of interest northwest of Plato crater exhibits a wide variety of geologic features. LROC WAC frame M109269483CE; 695 nm in red, 567 nm in green, 415 nm in blue. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.

Figure 1. Regional context image for M104554343R. The large crater on the left is Plato, the white boxes indicate the Region of Interest, and the long yellow polygon indicates the size of the full outline of M104554343R. This area appears to be empty, and to an untrained eye it would possibly appear to be uninteresting. However nothing could be farther from the truth. The intent of human exploration in this region is to explore a possible pyroclastic deposit. Radar studies of this region, along with spectroscopic evidence from the US Clementine mission indicate, that this region may be covered with pyroclastic materials. As an added bonus there is a large sinuous rille (Figure 2), possibly related to the pyroclastic deposit, just south of the site, close enough that astronauts could explore it using a simple rover.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Figure 2. Portion of NAC Image M104554343R just to the south of the region of interest detailing a portion of Rimae Plato (which meanders across this image from left to right), a lunar rille that may be an old lava channel associated with the pyroclastic deposits in this area (image is 9 km across).

Pyroclastic deposits consist of small, glassy volcanic beads that subdue and mantle the surrounding terrain, produced by explosive fire-fountaining eruptions billions of years ago when the Moon was more geologically active. When magma cools rapidly (quenched), atoms do not have the time to form orderly structures (minerals) so a glass results.

Pyroclastic glasses are actually the most primitive (that is, unmodified by later geologic processes) materials in the lunar sample collection. The study of the pyroclastic materials in the Apollo collection has given geochemists valuable insights into the composition and evolution of the lunar interior. However, there are comparatively few pyroclastic materials in the current collection, and the Apollo sites themselves are not representative of all of the lunar surface from a geological standpoint. Human lunar exploration is needed to complete our understanding of the formation and history of the Moon.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Pyroclastic deposits are potentially some of the most valuable resources to support human lunar habitation. Processing pyroclastic materials can provide relatively easy access to oxygen and water for future lunar explorers. Human exploration of this location will enable access to these important resources, as well as provide key insights into the nature of these pyroclastic materials and the possible source regions of these volcanic eruptions.

Related Links

› Arizona State University's Web site for the LRO Camera

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-201000202-platocrater.html

LRO Team Begins to Release New Image Series

Today, the LROC Team begins a new series of Featured Images highlighting the regions of interest for potential future human and robotic lunar exploration that LRO is imaging for NASA's Constellation Program. There are 50 of these regions, which were selected prior to LRO’s launch based on expert input from the lunar science community and NASA engineers. For each of these 50 regions, the LROC Team is collecting a comprehensive set of image data.

These images, and the associated information products derived from them (such as boulder distribution maps, slope maps and digital terrain models), will guide engineers and scientists as they develop their plans for how they would continue to explore the moon both robotically and with humans.

A very subtle mare-highlands boundary in Mare Moscoviense on the lunar farside, near the center of the Constellation Program region of interest. The generalized geologic contact between the mare and the highlands has been highlighted (mare to the left, highlands to the right). Image width is 1.8 km. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Lunar scientists have been studying the vast data returned from the Apollo missions for almost 40 years. As a result, much is known about the moon. Even so, there remains much that we do not know about the moon. Accordingly, each of these 50 regions is associated with either an immensely compelling lunar science question or an exploration-enabling resource, or both, that will be useful to future explorers. However, these 50 regions aren't intended as actual NASA landing sites, but instead are representative locations whose study will provide mission planners and lunar scientists working on future human and robotic lunar exploration with lots of data for a comprehensive suite of interesting and relevant terrains all over the lunar surface.

Figure 2: Mosaics from the Clementine mission showing the lunar near side and lunar far side, with the location of Mare Moscoviense highlighted. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey/Arizona State University

Mare Moscoviense: Window to Far Side Volcanism

It's clear from looking at pictures of the moon that the near side and the far side are very different from a geologic standpoint. The darker, basaltic mare deposits dominate the near side, whereas the far side is dominated by bright deposits of anorthosite thought to be remnants of the moon's original crust. Mare Moscoviense is one of the few (and also the largest) deposits of mare basalts on the lunar far side.

Figure 3: LROC WAC mosaic with the location of the proposed Constellation region of interest indicated with an arrow. Credit:NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Why are there so many mare basalts on the near side, but so few on the far side? Lunar scientists simply don't know the answer to that question. One idea is that the far side crust is simply thicker than the near side crust, and rising basaltic magma simply solidified before it was able to push through the thicker far side crust. That's where Moscoviense comes in. We know enough about the Moscoviense region from previous missions that we have a well-defined set of questions that potential future missions might be able to answer. For example, the Lunar Prospector mission showed that there are high concentrations of thorium in the Moscoviense basin. Thorium acts as a tracer for the lunar KREEP (potassium K, rare earth elements, and phosphorus) geochemical component found in abundance on the near side but not on the far side. Understanding the extent and distribution of thorium in the basin may tell us about the global distribution of the lunar KREEP component and thus the evolution of the lunar mantle. We also know from the Clementine mission that the Moscoviense basalts are rich in both iron and titanium. Since basalts form by partial melting of the lunar mantle, sampling Moscoviense basalts provides lunar scientists with vital insights into how the lunar mantle on the far side differs from the near side mantle, which in turn would help us to learn why mare basalts are so much rarer on the far side and provide key insights about the formation of all of the terrestrial planets, including Mars and Earth.

Figure 4: 20x down-sampled mosaic of LROC NAC images M105887165LE and M105887165RE showing location of the proposed Project Constellation design reference exploration area. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

For these reasons, a Constellation Program region of interest is located within Mare Moscoviense. As you can see in Figures 3 and 4, the region is at the edge of Moscoviense, allowing explorers to collect samples from both the mare basalts and the surrounding highlands terrain during their traverses. The materials at the edge of the basin provide important insights into the formation of the Moscoviense basin itself. By exploring and sampling the Moscoviense region, we would date the basalt flows and definitively determine their composition. This sampling would let us determine how Moscoviense basalts differ from the near side basalts sampled during Apollo. Age-dating Moscoviense basalts also provides important insights into the history of lunar volcanism by determining whether the Moscoviense basalts are older or younger than near side basalts.

While the scientific goals of exploring the Moscoviense region are certainly important, no less important is access to key lunar resources. The lunar regolith (the broken-up rocks and impact products that make up the first 10 meters or so of the lunar surface) in this region is derived in part from the local titanium-rich Moscoviense basalts. This regolith material could be used for a variety of vital purposes, including the construction of human habitats, radiation shielding, or as feedstock for local resource utilization. Taking a longer view, titanium is an important industrial material on Earth, and it will be very important for indigenous lunar industrial development.

Related Links

› Arizona State University's Web site for the LRO Camera
› Explore the Mare Moscoviense Constellation site for yourself on Arizona State University's LROC site
› Earlier image showing Mare Moscoviense

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20100107-new-images.html

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