Transcript Moon Rocks - DouglasSpaceWeek

Reflect on Today’s
Presentation
Space Debris
Dr. David Wright
Moon Rocks
Apollo Missions
• 6 successful
• Collected (200) samples
• Brought back 382 kg = 840 lbs. of rock
Fra Mauro
Sea of
Rains
Oceans of
Storms
14
17
15
11
12
16
Descartes
Highlands
Sea of
Serenity
Sea of
Tranquility
1st (3) Apollo Moon Landings
• Focused on engineering test flights
Last (3) Apollo Moon Landings
• Focused on scientific inquiry
Rocks on Earth
Sedimentary
Igneous
On or Below
Earth’s Surface
On
Earth’s Surface
Metamorphic
Below Earth’s Surface
Digging at a rate of one foot per minute, it
would take you 87 years to tunnel all the way
through Earth.
Igneous Rock
• Means FIRE in Greek
forms when molten rock cools and turns
to solid rock
Metamorphic
• means: to change form
meta = change
morph = shape
Rocks change because of extreme heat &
pressure below Earth’s surface
Animation
Sedimentary Rock
Rock is weathered
sediments
Sediments are eroded
Sediments are deposited
Sediments are
cemented together
Deposition
Animation
Unique Moon Rocks
• NO sedimentary rocks
Because
NO atmosphere
NO liquid water
No wind
No weather
Glaciers
Groundwater
Rivers
U.S. Landscapes formed by Erosion
Highlands
Maria
contained mostly
basalts
Form when lava cools
on the Moon’s
surface
contained mostly
feldspar containing
rocks
Form when lava cools
slowly below the
Moon’s surface
Maria
Basalts
basalt
vesicular
basalt
Highlands
Anorthosites
Rocks that contain
mostly feldspar
over 4 billion years old
Density
• The relationship between an objects
mass & its volume
Density = mass (g)
volume (ml or cc)
An objects density does not change based
on the size of the sample.
The moon is Earth’s only natural
satellite.
• The moon's gravitational force is only
17% of the Earth's gravity. For
example, a 100 pound (45 kg) person
would weigh only 17 pounds (7.6 kg) on
the Moon.
• The moon's density is is about 3/5 the
density of the Earth.
TEMPERATURE
daytime highs of about 130°C = 265°F
to
nighttime lows of about -110°C = -170°F
THE ORIGIN OF THE MOON
Most scientists believe that the moon was
formed from the ejected material after
the Earth collided with a Mars-sized
object. This ejected material coalesced
into the moon that went into orbit around
th Earth. This catastrophic collision
occurred about 60 million years after
Earth itself formed (about 4.3 billion years
ago). This is determined by the
radioisotope dating of moon rocks.