The Mountains On The Moon

NASA's Artemis Program is planning to land astronauts on the Moon's due south pole. To prepare for this, NASA'due south Solar System Exploration Inquiry Virtual Plant (SSERVI) is creating the Lunar South Pole Atlas (LSPA). As part of that Atlas, NASA is mapping the topography of the region, including the mountains.

When we think of the Moon'south geography, nosotros ordinarily think virtually craters, which are everywhere, and comport the names of prominent humans. Nosotros also think of the vast areas of lava flows, which we call seas, or maria. Simply the Moon also has mountains, and some of them are surprisingly alpine.

Lunar mountains are called massifs, and the south pole is domicile to several of them. Scientists call up that they may exist related to the massive bear upon basin on the Moon'southward south pole, called the south pole-Aitken bowl. Information technology's the largest, and also the oldest, impact basin on the Moon, and one of the largest in the Solar Organization. That bear upon may have created the mountains.

Elevation data of the Moon showing the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Credit: NASA/GSFC/University of Arizona — Superlative data of the Moon showing the South Pole-Aitken Basin. Credit: NASA/GSFC/University of Arizona

Scientists with the Lunar Due south Pole Atlas have created two new images of those mountains that testify their elevation compared to Globe'southward tallest mountain, Mt. Everest. The ii images are of Malapert Massif and Leibniz Beta.

Malapert Massif is adjacent to the Haworth crater, and the change in elevation between the two is greater than 8 km (5 mi). That'due south very shut to the summit of Mt. Everest above sea level.

The elevation change betwixt Malapert Massif and the side by side Haworth Crater exceeds eight km (5 mi). Illustration credit: LPI/CLSE

The second new epitome in the LSPA is of Leibniz Beta. Information technology has the highest-elevation peak of anything in the region. It'south side by side to Shoemaker crater, and the elevation change from the crater to the peak is ten km (6.ii mi), higher than our own Mt. Everest.

The elevation modify between Leibnitz Beta and the adjacent Shoemaker Crater is about 10 km (six.ii mi). Analogy credit: LPI/CLSE

NASA is aiming for an extended human being presence on the Moon, centered on the southward pole region where there are h2o ice resources. The Lunar South Pole Atlas is a collection of maps, images, illustrations, and data products designed to support NASA'southward mission.

<Click to enlarge.> An elevation map of the lunar south pole from the LSPA. Image Credit: Lunar Planetary Institute. — <Click to enlarge.> An elevation map of the lunar southward pole from the LSPA. Leibniz Beta isn't labelled, just it's adjacent to Shoemaker crater. Paradigm Credit: Lunar Planetary Institute.

The astronauts on Apollo 8 too supplied us with images of the due south pole mountains. Apollo 8 was the showtime mission to orbit the Moon, though it didn't land. It's also the commencement crewed mission to leave Low-World Orbit. While orbiting the Moon, they took this flick of the mountains rimming the south pole Aitken basin.

Astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission to the Moon took this photograph of mountains rimming the Aitken Basin. Image Credit: By NASA - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.(Original text: Apollo 8 Hasselblad camera image, unedited.Immediate source: Apollo Flight Journal, Apollo 8, Photography Index70-mm magazine E, AS08-13-2319), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47553395 — Astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission to the Moon took this photograph of mountains rimming the Aitken Bowl. Image Credit: By NASA – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Eatables.(Original text: Apollo viii Hasselblad camera image, unedited.Immediate source: Apollo Flight Journal, Apollo viii, Photography Index70-mm magazine E, AS08-13-2319), Public Domain, https://eatables.wikimedia.org/west/index.php?curid=47553395

In that location were proposed missions to Malapert massif, and i of them was proposed by David Kring, who is also the Chief Investigator for the Lunar and Planetary Establish. That mission was part of the Constellation program, a cancelled crewed mission to the Moon proposed in the mid-2000s.

An image from the briefing for the proposed Constellation mission to to Malapert massif and Shackleton crater. Image Credit: Dr. David A. Kring/CLSE. — <Click to expand> An image from the conference for the proposed Constellation mission to to Malapert massif and Shackleton crater. Image Credit: Dr. David A. Kring/CLSE.

The Lunar South Pole Atlas is an interesting collection of data products. Information technology contains topographic maps, permanent shadow maps, slope maps, and other images and illustrations of different features of the Moon's southward pole. When Artemis astronauts state there, they'll be making utilize of the Atlas. Their mission will also no doubt produce a lot of new content for the Atlas.

<Click to enlarge> A portion of the MIIGAiK Hypsometric Map of the Lunar Polar Areas, fro Moscow University and based partly on SELENE (Kaguya) data. Image Credit: LSPA/ Kokhanov A. A., Rodionova Zh. F., and Karachevtseva I. P. (2016) Hypsometric Map of the Lunar Polar Areas, Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK). — <Click to enlarge> A portion of the MIIGAiK Hypsometric Map of the Lunar Polar Areas, fro Moscow Academy and based partly on SELENE (Kaguya) data. Paradigm Credit: LSPA/ Kokhanov A. A., Rodionova Zh. F., and Karachevtseva I. P. (2016)*Hypsometric Map of the Lunar Polar Areas*, Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK).

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