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These colorful maps showing the Moon’s rugged surface in exhaustive detail were created after a tremendous effort by researchers at the US Geological Survey. USA, NASA and the Planetary Lunar Institute. It is the first time that the entire lunar surface has been completely mapped and uniformly classified by scientists.
The lunar map, dubbed “Unified Geological Map of the Moon”, will now serve as the definitive blueprint for the surface geology of the Moon for all future human missions to the Moon and will provide invaluable value to scientists studying the 4,500 million years. history of the closest neighbor on planet Earth.
The digital map is available online now and shows the Moon’s geology in minute detail on a scale of 1: 5,000,000.
“The Moon has always fascinated people and when we might return,” said current USGS director and former NASA astronaut Jim Reilly. “So it is wonderful to see USGS create a resource that can help NASA with its planning for future missions.”
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To create the new digital map, the team used information gathered from six regional Apollo-era maps along with updated information from recent satellite missions to the Moon.
The data for the equatorial region of the Moon comes from observations collected by the Terrain Chamber on the recent SELENE (Selenological Explorer and Engineering) mission led by JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, while the data for the north and south were complemented by NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Laser. Altimeter data.
They redrawn existing historical maps by merging them with modern data sets, and also developed a new description of the Moon’s rock layers.
“This map is the culmination of a decades-long project,” said Corey Fortezzo, geologist and lead author of the USGS. “It provides vital information for new scientific studies by connecting exploration of specific sites on the Moon with the rest of the lunar surface.”
Reader Q&A: Does the Moon look “upside down” in the southern hemisphere?
Asked by: Millie Granger, London
In fact, the Moon is seen “backwards” in the southern hemisphere compared to the northern hemisphere. This is simply a matter of orientation.
Imagine if the Moon orbited in the same plane as the equator. If you were in the northern hemisphere, the Moon would always appear in the southern sky, since that is the direction of the equator. The opposite is true in the southern hemisphere: the Moon would appear in the northern sky.
So these two observers look at the same object from opposite directions and naturally that means that one sees the object flipped compared to the other. This means that the “Man on the Moon” is upside down in the southern hemisphere, and may actually look more like a rabbit.
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