ISOCHRON (spacecraft)
ISOCHRON (Inner SOlar system CHRONogy) is a proposed lunar sample-return mission that would retrieve samples of the youngest lunar mare Basalt#Lunar and Martian basalt, basalt. This robotic mission was proposed in July 2019 to NASA's Discovery Program.Meghan Bartels (March 25, 2019NASA Needs Fresh Moon Rocks. This Sample-Return Mission Could Get Them.''Space''. It was not shortlisted. Overview ISOCHRON would address fundamental questions about the composition of the lunar crust and the time-stratigraphy of lunar volcanic processes, with implications for all of the terrestrial planets. There is a stretch of nearly 2 billion years of lunar history that planetary scientists have not been able to date because the Apollo Program, Apollo missions did not retrieve any young rocks. Lunar mare basalts formed through partial melting of the mantle (geology), mantle, thus serve as probes of the Internal structure of the Moon, structure and composition of the interior. The stated scientific ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sample-return Mission
A sample-return mission is a spacecraft mission to collect and return samples from an extraterrestrial location to Earth for analysis. Sample-return missions may bring back merely atoms and molecules or a deposit of complex compounds such as loose material and rocks. These samples may be obtained in a number of ways, such as soil and rock excavation or a collector array used for capturing particles of solar wind or cometary debris. Nonetheless, concerns have been raised that the return of such samples to planet Earth may endanger Earth itself. To date, samples of Moon rock from Earth's Moon have been collected by robotic and crewed missions; the comet Wild 2 and the asteroids 25143 Itokawa, 162173 Ryugu, and 101955 Bennu have been visited by robotic spacecraft which returned samples to Earth; and samples of the solar wind have been returned by the robotic '' Genesis'' mission. In addition to sample-return missions, samples from three identified non-terrestrial bodies have be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Internal Structure Of The Moon
Having a mean density of 3,346.4 kg/m3, the Moon is a differentiated body, being composed of a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and planetary core. This structure is believed to have resulted from the fractional crystallization of a magma ocean shortly after its formation about 4.5 billion years ago. The energy required to melt the outer portion of the Moon is commonly attributed to a giant impact event that is postulated to have formed the Earth-Moon system, and the subsequent reaccretion of material in Earth orbit. Crystallization of this magma ocean would have given rise to a mafic mantle and a plagioclase-rich crust. Geochemical mapping from orbit implies that the crust of the Moon is largely anorthositic in composition, consistent with the magma ocean hypothesis. In terms of elements, the lunar crust is composed primarily of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminium, but important minor and trace elements such as titanium, uranium, thorium ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Proposed Space Probes
Proposal(s) or The Proposal may refer to: * Proposal (business) * Research proposal * Marriage proposal * Proposition, a proposal in logic and philosophy Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Proposal'' (album), an album by Ransom & Statik Selektah Films * ''The Proposal'' (1957 film), an Australian television play based on Chekhov's 1890 play * ''The Proposal'' (2001 film), starring Nick Moran, Jennifer Esposito, and Stephen Lang * ''The Proposal'' (2009 film), starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds * ''The Proposal'' (2022 film), starring Joe Joseph and Amara Raja * " La propuesta" ("The Proposal"), a short story in the 2014 Argentina anthology film ''Wild Tales'' Literature * '' Proposals (play)'', a 1997 play by Neil Simon * ''The Proposal'' (novel), 1999 and 35th book in the ''Animorphs'' series by K.A. Applegate * ''The Proposal'', alternative title of Chekhov's 1890 play ''A Marriage Proposal'' Television * ''The Proposal'' (American TV series), a 2018 realit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Discovery Program Proposals
Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery or Discoveries may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Discovery'' (film), a 2017 British-American romantic science fiction film * Discovery Channel, an American TV channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery * ''Discovery'' (Canadian TV series), a 1962–1963 Canadian documentary television program * ''Discovery'' (Irish TV series), an Irish documentary television programme * ''Discovery'' (UK TV programme), a British documentary television programme * ''Discovery'' (U.S. TV series), a 1962–1971 American television news program * '' Star Trek: Discovery'', an American television series ** USS ''Discovery'' (NCC-1031), a fictional space craft on ''Star Trek: Discovery'' *"The Discovery," the eighth and final episode of '' Po ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Relative Dating
Relative dating is the science of determining the relative order of past events (i.e., the age of an object in comparison to another), without necessarily determining their absolute age (i.e., estimated age). In geology, rock or superficial deposits, fossils and lithologies can be used to correlate one stratigraphic column with another. Prior to the discovery of radiometric dating in the early 20th century, which provided a means of absolute dating, archaeologists and geologists used relative dating to determine ages of materials. Though relative dating can only determine the ''sequential order'' in which a series of events occurred, not ''when'' they occurred, it remains a useful technique. Relative dating by biostratigraphy is the preferred method in paleontology and is, in some respects, more accurate. The Law of Superposition, which states that older layers will be deeper in a site than more recent layers, was the summary outcome of 'relative dating' as observed in g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Geology Of The Moon
The geology of the Moon (sometimes called selenology, although the latter term can refer more generally to "lunar science") is the structure and composition of the The Moon, Moon, which is quite different from that of Earth. The Moon Atmosphere of the Moon, lacks a true atmosphere outside of a sparse layer of gas. Because of this, the absence of free oxygen and water eliminates erosion due to weather. Instead, the surface is eroded much more slowly through the bombardment of the lunar surface by micrometeorites. It does not have any known form of plate tectonics, along with having a lower gravity compared to Earth. Because of its small size, it cooled faster in the early days of its formation. In addition to impacts, the geomorphology of the lunar surface has been shaped by volcanism, which is now thought to have ended less than 50 million years ago. The Moon is a planetary differentiation, differentiated body, with a crust (geology), crust, mantle (geology), mantle, and planetary ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lunar Mare
The lunar maria ( ; mare ) are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by lava flowing into ancient impact basins. They are less reflective than the "highlands" as a result of their iron-rich composition, and hence appear dark to the naked eye. The maria cover about 16% of the lunar surface, mostly on the side visible from Earth. The few maria on the far side are much smaller, residing mostly in very large craters. The traditional nomenclature for the Moon also includes one (ocean), as well as features with the names ('lake'), ('marsh'), and ('bay'). The last three are smaller than maria, but have the same nature and characteristics. The names of maria refer to sea features ( Mare Humorum, Mare Imbrium, Mare Insularum, Mare Nubium, Mare Spumans, Mare Undarum, Mare Vaporum, Oceanus Procellarum, Mare Frigoris), sea attributes ( Mare Australe, Mare Orientale, Mare Cognitum, Mare Marginis), or states of mind ( Mare Crisium, Mare Ingenii, Mare Serenita ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oceanus Procellarum
Oceanus Procellarum ( ; from ) is a vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Moon. It is the only one of the lunar maria to be called an "Oceanus" (ocean), due to its size: Oceanus Procellarum is the largest of the maria ("seas"), stretching more than across its north–south axis and covering roughly , accounting for 10.5% of the total lunar surface area. Characteristics Like all lunar maria, Oceanus Procellarum was formed by ancient volcanic eruptions resulting in basaltic floods that covered the region in a thick, nearly flat layer of solidified magma. Basalts in Oceanus Procellarum have been estimated to be as young as one billion years old. Unlike the other lunar maria, however, Oceanus Procellarum may or may not be contained within a single, well-defined impact basin. Around its edges lie many minor bays and seas, including Sinus Roris to the north, and Mare Nubium, Mare Humorum and to the south. To the northeast, Oceanus Procellarum is separated ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility
The Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility (LSLF) is a repository and laboratory facility at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, opened in 1979 to house geologic samples returned from the Moon by the Apollo program missions to the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. The facility preserves most of the of lunar material returned over the course of Apollo program and other extraterrestrial samples, along with associated data records. It also contains laboratories for processing and studying the samples without contamination. History Planning for handling returned lunar samples began early in the Apollo program. In 1964, a proposal was made for a small () sample receiving laboratory equipped with remote-controlled manipulators operating in a sterile, high-vacuum chamber to prepare samples for distribution to scientists, and this proposal was subsequently expanded to include a clean room with analytical instruments for performing preliminary analyses on the sample ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Radiometric Dating
Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to Chronological dating, date materials such as Rock (geology), rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurity, impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares the abundance of a naturally occurring Radionuclide, radioactive isotope within the material to the abundance of its Radioactive decay, decay products, which form at a known constant rate of decay. Radiometric dating of minerals and rocks was pioneered by Ernest Rutherford (1906) and Bertram Boltwood (1907). Radiometric dating is now the principal source of information about the Absolute dating, absolute age of rocks and other Geology, geological features, including the age of Paleontology, fossilized life forms or the age of Earth itself, and can also be used to date a wide range of natural and Artifact (archaeology), man-made materials. Together with stratigraphy, stratigraphic principles, ra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mantle (geology)
A mantle is a layer inside a planetary body bounded below by a Planetary core, core and above by a Crust (geology), crust. Mantles are made of Rock (geology), rock or Volatile (astrogeology), ices, and are generally the largest and most massive layer of the planetary body. Mantles are characteristic of planetary bodies that have undergone planetary differentiation, differentiation by density. All Terrestrial planet, terrestrial planets (including Earth), half of the giant planets, specifically ice giants, a number of Asteroid, asteroids, and some planetary Natural satellite, moons have mantles. Examples Earth The Earth's mantle is a layer of Silicate minerals, silicate rock between the Crust (geology), crust and the Earth's outer core, outer core. Its mass of 4.01 × 1024 kg is 67% the mass of the Earth. It has a thickness of making up about 84% of Earth's volume. It is predominantly solid, but in Geologic time scale, geological time it behaves as a Viscosity, visc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |