Moon Exploration and Science News

March 28, 2013

Ultraviolet spectrograph observes mercury and hydrogen in GRAIL impact plumes
San Antonio TX (SPX) Mar 28, 2013
When NASA's twin GRAIL spacecraft made their final descent for impact onto the Moon's surface last December, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's sophisticated payload was in position to observe the effects. As plumes of gas rose from the impacts, the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) aboard LRO detected the presence of mercury and hydrogen and measured their time evolution as the gas rapidly expanded into the vacuum of space at near-escape velocities. NASA intentionally crashed the GRAIL twi ... read more

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Ultraviolet spectrograph observes mercury and hydrogen in GRAIL impact plumes

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