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Mare Nectaris
Mare Nectaris (Latin ''nectaris'', the "Sea of Nectar") is a small lunar mare or sea (a volcanic lava plain noticeably darker than the rest of the Moon's surface) located south of Mare Tranquillitatis southwest of Mare Fecunditatis, on the near side of the moon. Montes Pyrenaeus borders the mare to the east and Sinus Asperitatis fuses to its northwestern edge. It is 84,000 square kilometers in size. Several large craters are situated at the borders of Mare Nectaris. The biggest one is lava-filled Fracastorius (124 km), which fuses with southern coast of the Sea. A prominent trio of 100-km craters Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina is located near northwestern coast. Other notable feature is a "ghost crater" Daguerre, almost entirely covered with lava, in the northern part of Mare Nectaris. Mare Nectaris is located in the central part of 860-km-diameter impact basin, which was formed 3.8–3.9 billion years ago. This event marks the beginning of Nectarian period of the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mare Nectaris
Mare Nectaris (Latin ''nectaris'', the "Sea of Nectar") is a small lunar mare or sea (a volcanic lava plain noticeably darker than the rest of the Moon's surface) located south of Mare Tranquillitatis southwest of Mare Fecunditatis, on the near side of the moon. Montes Pyrenaeus borders the mare to the east and Sinus Asperitatis fuses to its northwestern edge. It is 84,000 square kilometers in size. Several large craters are situated at the borders of Mare Nectaris. The biggest one is lava-filled Fracastorius (124 km), which fuses with southern coast of the Sea. A prominent trio of 100-km craters Theophilus, Cyrillus and Catharina is located near northwestern coast. Other notable feature is a "ghost crater" Daguerre, almost entirely covered with lava, in the northern part of Mare Nectaris. Mare Nectaris is located in the central part of 860-km-diameter impact basin, which was formed 3.8–3.9 billion years ago. This event marks the beginning of Nectarian period of the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rupes Altai
Rupes Altai is an escarpment in the lunar surface that is located in the southeastern quadrant of the Moon's near side. It is named for the Altai Mountains in Asia, and is the most prominent lunar escarpment. The selenographic coordinates of this feature are , and it has a length of about 427 km. The southeastern end of the cliff terminates along the western edge of the crater Piccolomini. It then arcs irregularly towards the north, climbing to heights of nearly a kilometer. The northern end of the arc is an irregular region with no clearly defined terminus, where it brackets the prominent craters Theophilus, Cyrillus, and Catharina. This cliff forms the southwestern rim of the Nectaris impact basin. This feature is difficult to locate during the full moon when the sunlight is nearly overhead. It appears as a bright, winding line about five days after the new moon, and casts a long, irregular shadow about four days after the full moon, when the sunset terminator is nearby ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volcanism On The Moon
Volcanism on the Moon is represented by the presence of volcanoes, pyroclastic deposits and vast lava plains on the lunar surface. The volcanoes are typically in the form of small domes and cones that form large volcanic complexes and isolated edifices. Calderas, large-scale collapse features generally formed late in a volcanic eruptive episode, are exceptionally rare on the Moon. Lunar pyroclastic deposits are the result of lava fountain eruptions from volatile-laden basaltic magmas rapidly ascending from deep mantle sources and erupting as a spray of magma, forming tiny glass beads. However, pyroclastic deposits formed by less common non-basaltic explosive eruptions are also thought to exist on the Moon. Lunar lava plains cover large swaths of the Moon's surface and consist mainly of voluminous basaltic flows. They contain a number of volcanic features related to the cooling of lava, including lava tubes, rilles and wrinkle ridges. The Moon has been volcanically active througho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torricelli (crater)
Torricelli is a lunar impact crater in the eastern part of the Sinus Asperitatis, to the south of the Mare Tranquillitatis. It was named after Italian physicist Evangelista Torricelli. The western rim of the crater is broken open and joined to a smaller crater to the west. The entire formation has a pear-shaped appearance. Torricelli lies in the northeastern part of a circular formation of rises in the lunar mare, possibly the remains of a crater formation buried by lava. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Torricelli. References * * * * * * * * * * * External links * {{cite web , last = Wood , first = Chuck , date = July 29, 2006 , url = http://www.lpod.org/?m=20060729 , title = A Mouth Lover's View of the Moon, depicts pictures drawn in 1872 , publisher = Lunar Photo of the Day , url-status = dead , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mädler (lunar Crater)
Mädler is a lunar impact crater located on the mare that joins Sinus Asperitatis in the north to Mare Nectaris to the southeast. To the west is the prominent crater Theophilus, and Mädler lies amidst the outer rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the .... The rim of Mädler is irregular and somewhat oblong in shape. There is a low central peak that joins a ridge crossing the floor. To the east of the crater are ray markings that include a ring-shape to the northeast. Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Mädler. References * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Madler Impact craters on the Moon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56 UTC. Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later, and they spent about two and a quarter hours together exploring the site they had named Tranquility Base upon landing. Armstrong and Aldrin collected of lunar material to bring back to Earth as pilot Michael Collins flew the Command Module ''Columbia'' in lunar orbit, and were on the Moon's surface for 21 hours, 36 minutes before lifting off to rejoin ''Columbia''. Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, on July 16 at 13:32 UTC, and it was the fifth crewed mission of NASA's Apollo program. The Apollo spacecraft had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO have been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions to the Moon. Its detailed mapping program is identifying safe landing sites, locating potential resources on the Moon, characterizing the radiation environment, and demonstrating new technologies. Launched on June 18, 2009, in conjunction with the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), as the vanguard of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, LRO was the first United States mission to the Moon in over ten years. LRO and LCROSS were launched as part of the United States's Vision for Space Exploration program. The probe has made a 3-D map of the Moon's surface at 100-meter resolution and 98.2% coverage (excluding polar areas in deep shadow), including 0.5-meter resolution images of Apollo landing sites. The first images ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) was an American lunar science mission in NASA's Discovery Program which used high-quality gravitational field mapping of the Moon to determine its interior structure. The two small spacecraft GRAIL A (Ebb) and GRAIL B (Flow) were launched on 10 September 2011 aboard a single launch vehicle: the most-powerful configuration of a Delta II, the 7920H-10. GRAIL A separated from the rocket about nine minutes after launch, GRAIL B followed about eight minutes later. They arrived at their orbits around the Moon 25 hours apart. The first probe entered orbit on 31 December 2011 and the second followed on 1 January 2012. The two spacecraft impacted the Lunar surface on December 17, 2012. Overview Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was GRAIL's principal investigator. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the project. NASA budgeted US$496 million for the program to include spacecraft and instrument development, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Prospector
''Lunar Prospector'' was the third mission selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. At a cost of $62.8 million, the 19-month mission was designed for a low polar orbit investigation of the Moon, including mapping of surface composition including Lunar hydrogen deposits, measurements of magnetic and gravity fields, and study of lunar outgassing events. The mission ended July 31, 1999, when the orbiter was deliberately crashed into a crater near the lunar south pole, after the presence of hydrogen was successfully detected. Data from the mission allowed the construction of a detailed map of the surface composition of the Moon, and helped to improve understanding of the origin, evolution, current state, and resources of the Moon. Several articles on the scientific results were published in the journal ''Science''. ''Lunar Prospector'' was managed by NASA Ames Research Center with the prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The Princi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Orbiter Program
The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five uncrewed lunar orbiter missions launched by the United States from 1966 through 1967. Intended to help select Apollo landing sites by mapping the Moon's surface, they provided the first photographs from lunar orbit and photographed both the Moon and Earth. All five missions were successful, and 99 percent of the lunar surface was mapped from photographs taken with a resolution of or better. The first three missions were dedicated to imaging 20 potential crewed lunar landing sites, selected based on Earth-based observations. These were flown at low-inclination orbits. The fourth and fifth missions were devoted to broader scientific objectives and were flown in high-altitude polar orbits. Lunar Orbiter 4 photographed the entire nearside and nine percent of the far side, and Lunar Orbiter 5 completed the far side coverage and acquired medium () and high () resolution images of 36 preselected areas. All of the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mass Concentration (astronomy)
In astronomy, astrophysics and geophysics, a mass concentration (or mascon) is a region of a planet's or moon's crust that contains a large positive gravity anomaly. In general, the word "mascon" can be used as a noun to refer to an excess distribution of mass on or beneath the surface of an astronomical body (compared to some suitable average), such as is found around Hawaii on Earth. However, this term is most often used to describe a geologic structure that has a positive gravitational anomaly associated with a feature (e.g. depressed basin) that might otherwise have been expected to have a negative anomaly, such as the "mascon basins" on the Moon. Lunar and Martian mascons The Moon is the most gravitationally "lumpy" major body known in the Solar System. Its largest mascons can cause a plumb bob to hang about a third of a degree off vertical, pointing toward the mascon, and increase the force of gravity by one-half percent. Typical examples of mascon basins on the Moon are t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graben
In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic context by Eduard Suess in 1883. The plural form is either ''graben'' or ''grabens''. Formation A graben is a valley with a distinct escarpment on each side caused by the displacement of a block of land downward. Graben often occur side by side with horsts. Horst and graben structures indicate tensional forces and crustal stretching. Graben are produced from parallel normal faults, where the displacement of the hanging wall is downward, while that of the footwall is upward. The faults typically dip toward the center of the graben from both sides. Horsts are parallel blocks that remain between graben; the bounding faults of a horst typically dip away from the center line of the horst. Single or multiple graben can produce a rift valley. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_launches_with_LRO_and_LCROSS.jpg "Click for more on -> Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter")
