NASA launches GRAIL probes to map moon’s interior
NASA launches GRAIL probes to map moon’s interior. (Reuters)
Two probes launched by NASA will study the moon's internal structure in unprecedented detail, shedding light on whether a second moon crashed into it long ago.
The probes, together called GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory), lifted off on Saturday at 0908 EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, New Scientist reported.
After they reach the moon in about four months' time, the probes will measure slight variations in the strength of the moon's gravity, which isn't uniform due to the uneven distribution of matter inside it.
Monitoring the distance between them will produce lunar gravity maps with at least 100 times the resolution of previous measurements, including maps made by Japan’s Kaguya mission.
Lumpiness revealed by the maps should reveal more about the moon’s history, since it is thought to represent scarring from past impacts.
For example, it was recently proposed that Earth once had a second moon that crashed onto our moon's far side, explaining why the crust is much thicker there.
Better mapping of the crust by GRAIL could help determine if that theory is valid, said the mission's chief scientist, Maria Zuber of MIT.
The maps might contain surprises that “turn our understanding of how the moon and other terrestrial planets formed on its ear,” she added
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