Transcript Luna 16
Conversations with the Earth Tom Burbine [email protected] • The lighter-colored areas on the Moon are called the highlands • Luna 2 - impact on the surface of the Moon (1959) (USSR) • Luna 3 - first photos of the far side of the Moon (1959) (USSR) • Apollo - Six manned landings on the Moon with sample return 1969-72. – (The seventh landing, Apollo 18, was canceled for political reasons) • Luna 16 - automated sample return from the Moon (1970) (USSR) • Clementine - a joint mission of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and NASA (1994) • Lunar Prospector - the first NASA mission to the Moon in almost 30 years (1998-1999) • SMART-1 - The European Space Agency’s (ESA) spacecraft orbited the Moon and then crashed into the Moon in (September, 2006) • Japanese SELENE mission (also known as Kaguya) orbited the Moon • Goal was "to obtain scientific data of the lunar origin and evolution and to develop the technology for the future lunar exploration" http://www.selene.jaxa.jp/en/about/image/img_equipment_001_e.jpg Pythagoras Crater from SMART-1 http://cdn2.libsyn.com/astronomy/moon_show20.gif?nvb=20081110153501&nva=20081111153501&t=0b619a8f8100c5f7820f5 http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/image_of_day_060626.html Pythagoras Crater from Selene Diameter 130 km, Depth 5.0 km http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/data/en/hdtv/006/hdtv_006_3/hdtv_006_3_l.jpg • http://space.jaxa.jp/movie/20080411_kaguya_mo vie01_e.html • India's national space agency launched Chandrayaan-1, an unmanned lunar orbiter, on October 22, 2008. • Estimated cost was $90 million • The probe operated for 312 days • Its scientific objectives were to prepare a threedimensional atlas of the near and far side of the moon and to conduct a chemical and mineralogical mapping of the lunar surface. Chandrayaan-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chandrayaan_1.jpg • A total of 382 kg of rock samples were returned to the Earth by the Apollo and Luna programs. • Apollo - 381.69 kg Apollo 16 • Luna – 300 g Luna 16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Apollo_16_LM.jpg http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1970-072A Apollo 15 sample “Genesis Rock” Very ancient sample 4 billion years old http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Apollo_15_Genesis_Rock.jpg Rocks and More Moon • Mineral – A naturally occurring, homogeneous inorganic solid substance having a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystal structure • Rock - naturally occurring aggregate of minerals Forming Different Mineralogies • Can be on a planet-scale • Or a few meters to kilometers Some minerals form before other minerals http://www.gly.fsu.edu/~salters/GLY1000/8Igneous_rocks/Slide16.jpg What minerals form? • Depends on the composition of the magma • Depends how quickly the magma cools Types of Rocks • Igneous – rock that solidified from molten or partially molten material • Metamorphic - rock that has changed in composition, mineral content, texture, or structure by the application of heat or pressure • Sedimentary – rock formed from material that was deposited as sediment by water, wind, or ice and then compressed and cemented Igneous Rock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Magma.jpg Metamorphism Quartzite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Quartzite.jpg Sedimentary • Examples of two types of sedimentary rock: limey shale overlaid by limestone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Limestoneshale7342.jpg • Rock formed from sediments covers 75-80% of the Earth's land area Lunar Meteorites • 44 known as of today • only 1 in 1200 meteorites are lunar • Lunar meteorites go for $800 and $40,000 per gram. By comparison, the price of 24-carat gold is about $20 per gram and gem-quality diamonds start at $1000-2000/gram. http://epsc.wustl.edu/admin/resources/moon_meteorites.html Mare Lunar Highlands http://epsc.wustl.edu/admin/resources/moon/howdoweknow.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lunar_Ferroan_Anorthosite_60025.jpg • Highlands – contain Al-rich material – Plagioclase feldspar - CaAl2Si2O8 • Mare – contain Fe-rich material – basaltic eruptions – Olivine - (Mg, Fe)2SiO4 – Pyroxene – (Mg,Fe)SiO3 – Ilmenite - FeTiO3 Fe-rich Al-rich http://epsc.wustl.edu/admin/resources/moon_meteorites.html Magma Ocean How do you form the Moon? Any Questions?