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Plato (crater)
Plato is a lava-filled lunar impact crater on the Moon. Its diameter is 101 km. It was named after ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It is located on the northeastern shore of the Mare Imbrium, at the western extremity of the Montes Alpes mountain range. In the mare to the south are several rises collectively named the Montes Teneriffe. To the north lies the wide stretch of the Mare Frigoris. East of the crater, among the Montes Alpes, are several rilles collectively named the Rimae Plato. The age of Plato is about 3.84 billion years, only slightly younger than the Mare Imbrium to the south. The rim is irregular with 2-km-tall jagged peaks that project prominent shadows across the crater floor when the Sun is at a low angle. Sections of the inner wall display signs of past slumping, most notably a large triangular slide along the western side. The rim of Plato is circular, but from the Earth it appears oval due to foreshortening. The flat floor of Plato has a relativel ... [...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 orbit, 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 LCROSS, 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. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Wilhelms
Don Edward Wilhelms (born July 5, 1930) is a former United States Geological Survey geologist who contributed to geologic mapping of the Earth's moon and to the geologic training of the Apollo astronauts. He is the author of ''To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'' (1993), ''The geologic history of the Moon'' (1987), and he co-authored the ''Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon'' (1971) with John F. McCauley. Wilhelms also contributed to ''Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit'' (NASA SP-362). He has also contributed to the study of Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ... (including Mariner 9), Mercury, and Ganymede. Biography He was born July 5, 1930. Wilhelms was the recipient of the G. K. Gilbert Award in 1988. He received the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maria Looney
Matthew Looney is the title character in a series of four science fiction books for children by Jerome Beatty Jr (1916—2002). Matthew's sister Maria Looney is the title character in Beatty's three subsequent books. The entire Looney series is illustrated by the renowned cartoonist Gahan Wilson. Series overview The Matthew Looney books chronicle the adventures of a brother and sister, Matthew and Maria Looney, who live in the town of Crater Plato, on the Moon. In Beatty's stories, the inhabitants of the Moon are a fully developed non-human civilization. Beatty's fictional Moon inhabitants are an indigenous species, living on the Moon without the assistance of spacesuits, "breathing" vacuum instead of air. A recurring theme in the books is Matthew's desire to know more about outer space, especially the Earth. At the beginning of the series, he looks up in the sky at the Earth and wonders if anyone is living on it. Similar to most child characters in children's literature, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched by NASA. * January 25 – The 6.2 Colombia earthquake hits western Colombia, killing at least 1,900 people. February * February 7 – Abdullah II inherits the throne of Jordan, following the death of his father King Hussein. * February 11 – Pluto moves along its eccentric orbit further from the Sun than Neptune. It had been nearer than Neptune since 1979, and will become again in 2231. * February 12 – U.S. President Bill Clinton is acquitted in impeachment proceedings in the United States Senate. * February 16 ** In Uzbekistan, an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov takes place at government headquarters. ** Across Europe, Kurdish protestors take over embassies and hold hostages after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
