Chapter 8: Earth's Moon
annular eclipse
an eclipse of the sun in which the edge of the sun remains visible as a bright ring around the moon.
moon visits
between 1958 and 1998 there were about 72 attempted lunar missions with about 48 successes The first successful soft landing on the Moon was Surveyor 1, in 1966
LCROSS Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite
crashed into lunar crater Cabeus, raising a 220 ton plume of dust. after the crash, grains of pure water ice could be seen rising into the sunlight above the crater The plume also contained large amounts of methane, ammonia, hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and light metals: sodium mercury and possibly silver
CHANG'E 5T1 (Test), Launched October 23, 2014.
engineering test for Chang'e 5 (December 2019 launch planned), which will land on the Moon and return samples to Earth L2 Lagrange point The return capsule practiced an atmosphere skipping re-entry and parachuted into the northern region of Mongolia.
Apollo 6
had one engine fail because its fuel lines were ruptured by the "pogoing" oscillation of the engine. That oscillation problem was never fixed.
CHANG'E 1, Launched October 24, 2007.
intended to focus on mapping the north and south pole regions of the Moon
The Moon's orbit
is somewhat tilted relative to the plane of the Earth's equator
CHANDRAYAAN-1, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) launched on October 22, 2008
it sent an impact probe into the Moon's South Pole, throwing up material that provided evidence of water
The Surveyor series of spacecraft
made unmanned landings on the Moon in the 1960s
radial streaks
material thrown out across the surrounding surface
The Moon rotates on its axis relative to the distant stars
once every sidereal month.
Moon
orbits the Earth once every 27 days (relative to the distant stars) rotates on its axis with exactly the same period so that it always has the same side facing the Earth orbit is significantly elliptical: perigee distance is 360,000 kilometers, apogee distance is 400,000 kilometers no magnetic field of its own: rotates slowly and its low density suggests that it does not have an iron core water in ice form, rocks contain large amounts of water that is chemically bound in the form of extremely stable hydrates.
LUNAR RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER, NASA, lunar orbiter. Launched on June 18, 2009
primary mission was to skim the Moon's surface at low altitude (30 to 150 miles), mapping the surface to an accuracy of a few inches in order to complete planning for a lunar base. It also carried the LCROSS vehicle, which was to look for water at the lunar pole.
GRAIL, NASA, two lunar orbiters (Ebb and Flow) launched Sept. 10, 2011
skimmed the moon's surface monitoring the distance between Ebb and Flow, a detailed map of mass concentrations below the surface of the Moon was built up
Apollo 4
tested the entire system at once
1957 Sputnik
the Soviet Union launched the first artificial Earth satellite powered by liquid fuel rocket engines Sputnik was followed by the first dog in space and, in 1961, the first man in space.
Lunar Prospector (NASA) launched Jan. 1998
using a variety of magnetic, gravity, and neutron sensing instruments to see what was there. It confirmed the presence of water near the lunar poles
Apollo 8
went even farther by literally "shooting for the Moon" with a trans lunar orbit and then raised the stakes even more by going into orbit around the moon.
moon oddities
The Moon is 1/4 the size of the Earth whereas the largest satellite of Saturn is about 1/25 the size of Saturn. The Moon's orbit is tilted relative to the Earth's equator by an amount that wobbles a bit, but is never less than 18.5° The low density of the Moon implies an almost complete lack of iron. The surface material from the Moon has a chemical composition identical to that of Earth's surface with one exception: It is extremely dry.
Craters
A large round pit caused by the impact of a meteoroid. very different from volcano craters. The floor of an impact crater is lower than the surrounding terrain. The floor of a volcanic crater is higher.
According to our current model of how magnetic fields arise, the magnetic field of Earth's Moon is A understandable since the Moon rotates slowly and probably has no iron core. B difficult to understand since the Moon rotates slowly and probably has no iron core.. C understandable since the Moon rotates slowly but probably has a large iron core. D difficult to understand since the Moon rotates rapidly.
A understandable since the Moon rotates slowly and probably has no iron core.
The first successful soft landing on the Moon was A Surveyor 1 in 1969. B Surveyor 1 in 1966. C Luna 21 in 1973. D Luna 21 in 1976. E Apollo 10 in 1969.
B Surveyor 1 in 1966.
The discovery that there is water ice on the Moon has motivated many nations to launch Moon missions because it A indicates that life might have originated on the Moon. B could make a Moon base possible. C complicates the already difficult problem of explaining how the Moon formed. D could be mined and sent back to the Earth.
B could make a Moon base possible.
Apollo 11 made the first A landing on the Moon by a spacecraft. B crewed landing on the Moon. C crewed orbit of the Moon. D test of docking procedures in lunar orbit.
B crewed landing on the Moon.
The dark side of the Moon, where the Sun never shines, A is the side that always faces away from Earth. B does not exist. C is the side that always faces toward the Earth.
B does not exist.
A model in which the Moon forms by breaking away from the Earth would predict that the Moon's orbit should be A in the plane of the ecliptic. B in the plane of the Earth's equator. C perpendicular to the plane of the Earth's equator. D somewhat tilted relative to the plane of the Earth's equator.
B in the plane of the Earth's equator.
Ancient lava flows on the Moon are called Lunar A planitia. B maria. C craters. D valleys. E terrae.
B maria.
The capture theory, in which the Moon forms as a separate object similar to Earth and is then captured by the Earth, would predict that A the Moon's orbit should be in the plane of Earth's equator. B the Moon should have an iron core similar to Earth's. C the Moon should not have an iron core. D the Moon's orbit should be in the plane of the ecliptic.
B the Moon should have an iron core similar to Earth's.
Since 1990, the major spacefaring nations, Europe, China, Russia, Japan, India, and the U.S., have begun to return to the Moon. As of 2009, of these six space programs, A all except the European Space Agency have sent probes or orbiters to the Moon. B all except NASA have sent probes or orbiters to the Moon. C all except Russia have sent probes or orbiters to the Moon. D all except the Indian Space Research Organisation have sent probes or orbiters to the Moon. E all except the Japan Space Agency have sent probes or orbiters to the Moon.
C all except Russia have sent probes or orbiters to the Moon.
Hydrated minerals on the Moon A are present in the same proportions as on Earth. B are more abundant than on Earth. C are almost completely absent.
C are almost completely absent.
The side of the Moon that faces away from the Earth A looks exactly like the side that faces the Earth. B consists almost entirely of lunar maria. C has only a few small lunar maria.
C has only a few small lunar maria.
The Moon's orbit around the Earth A is exactly circular. B is somewhat elliptical but not enough to affect eclipses. C is elliptical enough to give us an annular solar eclipse when the Moon is near its apogee. D is elliptical enough to give us an annular lunar eclipse when the Moon is near its perigee.
C is elliptical enough to give us an annular solar eclipse when the Moon is near its apogee.
CHANG'E 3, Launched December , 2013.
Chang'e 3 achieved lunar orbit on December 6, 2013, and soft-landed a rover on December 14, 2013. The rover deployed onto the lunar surface and spent 31 months exploring. The rover included ground-penetrating radar to help survey the lunar subsurface.
The impacts of large objects on the surface of the Moon have caused A scarps. B highlands. C jumbled terrain. D craters. E rift valleys.
D craters.
The Soviet Union had a secret program to put the first human on the Moon. This program A never got beyond the planning stage. B built a Moon rocket, but never test fired it. C successfully test launched a Moon rocket that worked but was cancelled by the Politburo. D test launched their Moon Rocket several times, but it blew up each time.
D test launched their Moon Rocket several times, but it blew up each time.
Maria
Dark, flat areas on the moon's surface formed from huge ancient lava flows. made of basalt, the same material as the Moon's mantle and are lower and younger than the rest of the Moon's surface.
Tidal Lock
Earth's gravity pulls on one side of the Moon keeping only one side facing us
CHANG'E 4-relay, Launched May 20 2018.
It serves as a radio relay for the Chang'e 4 mission, which has placed the first lunar lander and lunar rover on the far side of the Moon A lunar orbiter as well as a lander and lunar rover, combined with the communications satellite already hovering over the Moon's far side will begin to explore the Von Karman crater in the South Pole - Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon.
Lagrange points
L1, L2, and L3: are unstable so that a spacecraft must use its thrusters to stay at these points L2: is said to be in a Lunar Halo orbit, is ideal for a communication satellites L4 and L5: are stable, which means that objects placed there will resist being moved away, have been proposed for space colonies because they do not need any active measures to stay in place.
Giant Impact Theory
a mars size (Theia) meteoroid hit Earth and outside layer became moon (theory of how moon formed that is most accepted by people)
formation of the moon
The tilt of the Moon's orbit argues that its formation involved an outside body. If the Moon simply split from the Earth, it would be orbiting in the plane of the Earth's equator. The similarities in chemical composition imply that all of the objects involved formed in the neighborhood of Earth's orbit. The lack of iron on the Moon implies that the Moon could not be a captured object that formed separately. If it formed near Earth's orbit, it would have an iron core. The chemical dryness of lunar rocks implies that they were heated to high temperatures which drove off any water.
CHANG'E 2, Launched October 1, 2010.
This probe captured high resolution images of the proposed landing site of the Chang'e 3 lunar rover and then left lunar orbit to visit both the L2 lunar Lagrange point and the asteroid 4179Toutatis. It provided a full test of the Chinese Deep Space Tracking System.
KAGUYA (SELENE) JAXA (Japan Space Agency), Launched Sep 2007.
This probe consisted of one main orbiter and two smaller ones. The probe entered Lunar Orbit on October 18, 1007 and shifted to regular observation mode on December 21, 2007. It orbited the Moon for 19 months, creating a complete map of the Moon's surface.
Clemintine
a joint project of NASA and the Strategic Defense Initiative used its radio transmitter to bounce signals from the Moon's South Pole to the antennas of the Deep Space Network on Earth. The signals were consistent with the presence of ice at the pole. The results were inconclusive, but were enough to start the lunar water hunt and a race to the lunar South Pole basin.
