Have you ever wondered what kind of rocks make up those bright and dark spots that we see on the Moon? Well, we already have a new official map to help us explain the 4.5 billion year history of our closest neighbor in space: the Moon.
Based on data from Apollo-era satellites and missions, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), NASA, and the Lunar Planetary Institute have reconstructed what they say is the first complete geological map of the Moon.
The lunar map, called the ‘Unified Geological Map of the Moon’, will serve as the definitive model of the geology of the moon’s surface for future manned missions and will be invaluable to the international scientific community, educators and the general public. It shows an incredibly detailed perspective of our satellite, showing its geology at a scale of 1: 5,000,000.
“The Moon has always fascinated humanity and also about when we might return,” says current USGS director and former NASA astronaut Jim Reilly. “So it’s wonderful to see the USGS create a tool that can help NASA with its planning for future missions.”
Missions that have contributed to the project
To create the new digital map, the scientists used information from six regional Apollo-era maps along with updated information from recent satellite missions to the moon. The NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Wide Angle Camera dataset and the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, detailing the nooks and crannies of the Moon and other spacecraft, such as the Selenological Explorer and Engineering (SELENE), targeted by JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, provided topographic data for the north and south poles.
The result is a very complete map that we can download to our computer. The geologic map is color-coded based on the mosaic of rocks, materials, and structures that make up Earth’s natural satellite.
“This map is the culmination of a decades-long project,” said Corey Fortezzo, a USGS geologist and lead author on the project. “It provides vital information for new scientific studies by connecting the exploration of specific sites on the Moon with the rest of the lunar surface.”
The first complete geological map of the Moon consists of 43 geological units, according to a document produced by the team for the 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. “These units are divided into groups based on attributes and include materials from craters, basins, plains, eastern formation, or volcanic units.”
If you are wondering about the colors on the map, these represent the discrete geological units of the Moon that are discernible on a map scale of 1: 5,000,000, that is, 1 mm on the map equals 5,000,000 mm on the lunar surface; or what is the same: 5 kilometers.
Scientists claim that this Unified Geological Map of the Moon can act as a blueprint for future manned missions to the Moon, as well as offer key information for scientists here on Earth.
Referencia: United States Geological Survey Unified Geologic Map of the Moon website.
