Lunar Prospects
Explanation:
Launched on January 6th,
NASA's
Lunar Prospector
spacecraft has been
exploring the Moon with instruments designed
to sense global properties while
orbiting pole-to-pole, 63 miles above the lunar surface.
Now over half way through its primary mission, impressive
science results include a much-needed precision
gravity map of the lunar surface,
global maps of elemental composition,
the detection of mini-magnetospheres related to large impact sites,
and evidence pointing toward a small iron-rich lunar core.
But perhaps the most
spectacular recent announcement has underscored
Prospector's earlier block-buster -
the detection of substantial water-ice
at both the North and South lunar poles.
An analysis of data collected so far is consistent with
near-pure water ice deposits - the residue of cometary impacts -
buried beneath as much as 18 inches of dry
dusty regolith.
And the estimates now suggest 10 times more
water in each polar region
than previously thought!
The small Prospector spacecraft carries no cameras for lunar imaging, but
the Moon is relatively well photographed.
This detailed, color-enhanced
nearside mosaic was produced
from images taken by the Galileo
spacecraft as it passed the Moon in December of 1992.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
