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2232G
Moon
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Veena Wadu
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Cards (21)
Moon
Surface dominated by
impact
craters
Some filled with
volcanic flows
(maria)
No atmosphere
Same side always faces the earth (
tidally
locked
)
Moon is smaller in density than
Venus
,
Mars
, and
Earth
Gravity
on the Moon is 1/6th that of Earth
Moon's orbital period matches its
tidally
locked
rotation
Intense engineering designs are required to counteract the Moon's
cold
and
warm
conditions
Phases
of
the
Moon
Cyclical changes in the Moon's appearance as seen from Earth
Moon's gravitational pull on Earth and oceans
Creates
high
and
low
tides
High
tide
is always aligned with the Moon
Lunar exploration programs
USSR Luna
program (1959-1976)
US Ranger,
Lunar Orbiter
, and Surveyor missions (1961-1968)
Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter (2009)
Chang'e 3 / Yutu (2013)
Chang'e-5 spacecraft (2020)
Over
100
spacecraft have been launched to explore the Moon
The
USSR
Luna
program
was the first to visit the Moon
The US Ranger, Lunar Orbiter, and Surveyor missions paved the way for
human
exploration
China's Chang'e 3
/ Yutu was the third nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon
China's Chang'e-5
spacecraft returned lunar samples in 2020
The
Apollo
missions (1969-1972) landed
12
astronauts on the Moon and returned
382
kg of rock and soil
Lunar rock types
Anorthosite
Basalt
Breccia
Regolith
(lunar soil)
Glass
Lunar near side
Lunar
Maria
- Basaltic lava emplaced from fissures, relatively young (formed ~4 – 3.2 Ga)
Lunar far side
Terrae
(
highlands
) - Local relief of 5000m, abundant craters (50 - 1000 km), anorthosite and feldspar-rich rocks, covers 80% of surface
Lunar volcanic features
Very fluid
lavas
Sinuous rills
(similar to lava tubes)
Smooth
low domes
Lunar tectonic features
Linear
rills
(flat-floored, steep-walled troughs similar to grabens)
Wrinkle
ridges
(compressional features from contraction as moon cooled)
Formation of the Moon (4.6-4.5 Gy)
1.
Mars-sized
object impacting differentiated Earth
2.
Debris
from Earth and impactor accumulating to form the Moon
3. Global magma ocean
4.
Differentiation
: Less dense rocks migrating upward, cooling, and forming lunar crust