SCIENCENVIRO (Opinion): Mission Moon - GRAIL

Seeking answers from the GRAIL

• Despite half a century of lunar exploration with automated probes and the efforts of a dozen men who walked its surface, the Moon has lost little of its allure, especially for scientists.
• The twin spacecraft of the Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission despatched by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration are the latest to go there.
• Probes have mapped in great detail the Moon's surface and the minerals to be found there. 

  • India's Chandrayaan-1 and other spacecraft found unmistakeable signs of water.
• The GRAIL spacecraft are expected to provide important clues to what the Moon is like deep inside by mapping variations in its gravitational field with much higher resolution than before. Such clues can provide insights into many aspects of Earth's natural satellite.

  • Why, for instance, are the two hemispheres of the Moon so different from each another? 
  • The side we see is flat with lava-filled basins that appear as dark patches. 
  • The farside, on the other hand, is mountainous and has a much thicker crust.