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NASA’s GRAIL Creates Most Accurate Moon Gravity Map

By Guest PostDecember 10, 2012Scienceapollo lunar missions, basin rings, bouguer gravity anomalies, cambridge, celestial body, crater central peaks, earth, ebb, flow, grail, gravity anomalies, gravity field, gravity field map, gravity gradients, gravity recovery, interior laboratory, jeff andrews hanna, linear gravity anomalies, maria zuber, mark wieczorek, massachusetts institute, mission, moon, moon basin, moon dike map, moon dikes, NASA, olivine materials map, probe, rocky planets, solar system, solar system history, Technology, tectonic structures, thin moon crust, volcanic landforms

PASADENA, Calif. — Twin NASA probes orbiting Earth’s moon have generated the highest resolution gravity field map of any celestial body.

The new map, created by the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, is allowing scientists to learn about the moon’s internal structure and composition in unprecedented detail. Data from the two washing machine-sized spacecraft also will provide a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed and evolved.

The gravity field map reveals an abundance of features never before seen in detail, such as tectonic structures, volcanic landforms, basin rings, crater central peaks and numerous simple, bowl-shaped craters. Data also show the moon’s gravity field is unlike that of any terrestrial planet in our solar system. (more…)

Dawn Reaches Milestone Approaching Asteroid Vesta

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has reached its official approach phase to the asteroid Vesta and will begin using cameras for the first time to aid navigation for an expected July 16 orbital encounter. The large asteroid is known as a protoplanet — a celestial body that almost formed into a planet.

At the start of this three-month final approach to this massive body in the asteroid belt, Dawn is 1.21 million kilometers (752,000 miles) from Vesta, or about three times the distance between Earth and the moon. During the approach phase, the spacecraft’s main activity will be thrusting with a special, hyper-efficient ion engine that uses electricity to ionize and accelerate xenon. The 12-inch-wide ion thrusters provide less thrust than conventional engines, but will provide propulsion for years during the mission and provide far greater capability to change velocity. (more…)

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NASA’s GRAIL Creates Most Accurate Moon Gravity Map

Dawn Reaches Milestone Approaching Asteroid Vesta