GRAIL Maps the Moons Gravity
Explanation:
How did the Moon form?
To help find out, NASA launched the twin
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL)
satellites in 2011 to orbit and map the Moon's surface gravity in
unprecedented detail.
Pictured above is a resulting
GRAIL
gravity map, with regions of
slightly lighter gravity shown in blue and regions of slightly stronger gravity shown
in red.
Analysis of
GRAIL data indicates that the moon
has an unexpectedly shallow
crust than runs about 40 kilometers deep, and an overall composition similar
to the Earth.
Although other
surprising
structures
have been discovered that will continue to be investigated,
the
results generally bolster the hypothesis that the
Moon formed mostly from Earth material
following a tremendous collision
in the early years of our Solar System, about 4.5 billion
years ago.
After completing their mission and running low on fuel, the two GRAIL
satellites,
Ebb and Flow,
were crashed into a lunar crater at about 6,000 kilometer per hour.
Growing Gallery:
Comet PanSTARRS at Sunset
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.
