Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Oct 27, 2020 12:28:42 GMT 2
(.#568).- The complete geological map of the Moon.
Here is the very first complete geological map of the Moon.
By: Brice Louvet, science editor
April 26, 2020
The USGS has just published the very first complete geological map of the Moon’s surface. What better understand the real “face” of our satellite.
Space enthusiasts will appreciate it. Researchers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with astronomers from NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute in Texas, have just published the first complete geological map of our satellite. This work, in addition to its invaluable value for the scientific community and the general public in general, will serve as a definitive model allowing to guide the astronauts within the framework of future missions to the Moon.
To draw up this new digital map, the researchers drew on information from six regional maps dating from the Apollo era. These have been “brought up to date” thanks to modern surveys. Scientists have also used the latest information available from recent satellite missions around the Moon.
Data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter wide-angle camera and the Lunar Orbiter laser altimeter contributed to this project, as did the Japanese mission SELENE, completed in 2009, which provided topographic data for the north poles and south.
Facilitate lunar exploration
This map will indeed provide valuable information to researchers in the context of new studies that will allow them, for example, to be sure that they are referring to the same land maps. It will thus make it possible to study in detail, and with greater ease, the geology of each lunar region, such as those which could be explored by astronauts.
In addition, "this data will lay the groundwork for discussions about the resources that could make sustainable exploration of the Moon a reality in the years to come," said Jim Skinner, research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center .
The unified geological map of the Moon detailing the geology of the visible part of our satellite, from Earth (left) and that of the “hidden” face (right).
Credit: NASA / GSFC / USGS
The map above shows us a mosaic of rocks, materials and colored structures making up the surface of the Moon. More than forty geological units are finally detailed, including craters, basins and other plains. The colors on the map represent the discernible geological units on a scale of 1: 5,000,000 (in other words, one millimeter on the map is equivalent to five kilometers on the lunar surface).
F I N .
Here is the very first complete geological map of the Moon.
By: Brice Louvet, science editor
April 26, 2020
The USGS has just published the very first complete geological map of the Moon’s surface. What better understand the real “face” of our satellite.
Space enthusiasts will appreciate it. Researchers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with astronomers from NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute in Texas, have just published the first complete geological map of our satellite. This work, in addition to its invaluable value for the scientific community and the general public in general, will serve as a definitive model allowing to guide the astronauts within the framework of future missions to the Moon.
To draw up this new digital map, the researchers drew on information from six regional maps dating from the Apollo era. These have been “brought up to date” thanks to modern surveys. Scientists have also used the latest information available from recent satellite missions around the Moon.
Data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter wide-angle camera and the Lunar Orbiter laser altimeter contributed to this project, as did the Japanese mission SELENE, completed in 2009, which provided topographic data for the north poles and south.
Facilitate lunar exploration
This map will indeed provide valuable information to researchers in the context of new studies that will allow them, for example, to be sure that they are referring to the same land maps. It will thus make it possible to study in detail, and with greater ease, the geology of each lunar region, such as those which could be explored by astronauts.
In addition, "this data will lay the groundwork for discussions about the resources that could make sustainable exploration of the Moon a reality in the years to come," said Jim Skinner, research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center .
The unified geological map of the Moon detailing the geology of the visible part of our satellite, from Earth (left) and that of the “hidden” face (right).
Credit: NASA / GSFC / USGS
The map above shows us a mosaic of rocks, materials and colored structures making up the surface of the Moon. More than forty geological units are finally detailed, including craters, basins and other plains. The colors on the map represent the discernible geological units on a scale of 1: 5,000,000 (in other words, one millimeter on the map is equivalent to five kilometers on the lunar surface).
F I N .
