News Main
Animals
Archaeology
Dinosaurs
Earth
History
Human Animal
Space
Tech

Moon-Mapping Spacecraft Preps for Mission

Irene Klotz, Discovery News

e-mail print

Of particular interest is whether there is frozen water in craters on the moon's poles. "That's the most intriguing question we'll answer," Tooley said.

NASA conducted a series of six lunar excursions between 1969 and 1972 under the Apollo program. The best images of the moon remain what the astronauts shot during their visits, although those were limited to the lunar equatorial regions.

The goal of Constellation is to establish a base at one of the lunar poles where natural resources, such as water, are believed to be available for astronauts to use. The point of the program is to develop technologies that will enable humans to live beyond Earth.

LRO has seven science instruments to survey mountains, craters, slopes, boulders and other lunar surface features. Scientists expect to get images that can reveal details as small as about 1.6 feet in size. There are plenty of objects around for reference.

"When we fly over the Apollo landing sites, we'll be able to see the lunar rovers, the lower half of the excursion modules and all the areas we've landed before," Tooley said.

NASA hopes its next crew will land on the moon by 2020. The CBO reports says the agency will need a budget spike of about another $3 billion a year to make that happen.

Related Links:

Discovery Space Blog: Free Space

Discovery Space